Effect of extended nursing on the behavioral and psychological symptoms and cognitive dysfunction of patients with moderate and severe Alzheimer's disease

Abstract

The purpose of this investigation is to study the effect of extended nursing on the behavioral and psychological symptoms and cognitive dysfunction of patients with moderate and severe Alzheimer's disease. A total of 102 patients with moderate and severe Alzheimer's disease admitted to the People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from February 2016 to March 2018 were randomly divided into the observation group and the control group. The control group received routine health education and nursing guidance after discharge, while the observation group received additional extended nursing scheme for 1 y, including daily living ability training, body function training, language training, memory training, music therapy, psychological nursing support and offline collective activities of patients. The scores of behavioral pathology assessment scale of Alzheimer's disease, Montreal cognitive assessment, and Barthel activities of daily living were compared between the two groups. There was no significant difference in the scores of behavioral pathology assessment scale of Alzheimer's, Montreal cognitive assessment and Barthel activities of daily living between the two groups on admission. One year later, the behavioral pathology assessment scale of Alzheimer's disease scores of the observation group were significantly lower than that of the control group (p<0.05), the Montreal cognitive assessment scores and Barthel activities of daily living scores of the observation group were significantly higher than that of the control group (p<0.05). The extended nursing scheme of this study improved the behavioral and psychological symptoms of Alzheimer's disease patients significantly, including anxiety, fear, hallucination, delusion, emotional disorder, aggressive behavior, behavioral disorder and circadian rhythm disorder. It could also improve the cognitive ability of Alzheimer's disease patients significantly, and improve their ability to handle daily life activities.