Prevalence and characteristics of neuropsychiatric symptoms, quality of life and psychotropics in people with acquired brain injury in long-term care

Abstract

Aim: Establishing the prevalence of neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS), quality of life and psychotropic drug use in people aged ≤65 years with acquired brain injury in nursing homes. Design: Cross-sectional, observational study among patients aged 18–≤65 years with acquired brain injury admitted to special care units in Dutch nursing homes. Methods: According to the Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects in January 2017 this study did not require ethics approval. Nursing homes will be recruited through the national acquired brain injury expertise network for patients with severe brain injury, the regional brain injury teams and by searching the internet. Patient characteristics will be collected through digital questionnaires. Neuropsychiatric symptoms will be assessed with the NeuroPsychiatric Inventory-Nursing Home version, the Cohen–Mansfield Agitation Inventory and the St. Andrews Sexual Behaviour Assessment; cognition with the Mini-Mental State Examination, quality of life with the Quality of Life after Brain Injury Overall Scale and activities of daily living with the Disability Rating Scale. Medication will be retrieved from the electronic prescription system. Data collection commenced in 2017 and will be followed by data analysis in 2019. Reporting will be completed in 2020. Discussion: Little is known about NPS among patients with acquired brain injury in nursing homes. In patients up to the age of 65 years, only six studies were found on prevalence rates of NPS. Impact: Patients with severe acquired brain injury experience lifelong consequences, that have a high impact on them and their environment. Although there is increasing attention for the survival of this vulnerable group of patients, it is also important to enlarge awareness on long-term consequences, specifically the NPS, quality of life and psychotropic drug use in acquired brain injury. Insight into the magnitude of these issues is necessary to achieve appropriate care for these patients.