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Effects of art therapy on agitation in elderly people with dementia: An integrative review
Author(s) -
Laranjeira Carlos
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
alzheimer's and dementia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.713
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1552-5279
pISSN - 1552-5260
DOI - 10.1002/alz.047656
Subject(s) - dementia , psychological intervention , antipsychotic , checklist , medicine , randomized controlled trial , cognition , psychology , psychiatry , clinical psychology , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , disease , surgery , pathology , cognitive psychology
Background The agitation behaviors manifested by the elderly are, in most cases, controlled by antipsychotic medication. However, there are several associated side effects such as: increased cognitive decline, increased risk of a stroke and even death. In terms of cognitive functions and behavioral problems, pharmacological interventions have minimal benefits and concerns about the harmful side effects caused by these antipsychotic drugs have made non‐pharmacological interventions take on a very important role. Thus, in the search for non‐pharmacological interventions to alleviate behavioral problems, special attention was paid to art therapy, which is one of the most recommended interventions. Method This integrative review was aimed to systematize the available evidence about the effects of art therapy on agitation in elderly people with dementia in the period from 2010 to 2020. The final sample comprised 10 studies after research at Pubmed, ISI Web and Scopus. This review included experimental, randomized and non‐randomized studies, pre‐experimental studies and case studies. The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) checklist was used to assess methodological quality of papers. Result Most studies enrolled found that art therapy was effective in improving at least one parameter of agitation in elderly people with dementia. However, 6 studies have found that art therapy has shown no benefit in terms of agitation in people with dementia. The interventions used in the various studies varied widely, both in terms of how the technique was applied and in terms of duration. The measures used to assess the results of the interventions were, for the most part, subjective and, in some cases, the instruments were not validated for the population. Conclusion Still there is some evidence that seems to indicate some efficacy in the use of therapy by art as treatment of agitation in elderly people with dementia, the quality and heterogeneity of existing studies is limited, so it cannot be assumed that the use of a intervention using art therapy is effective in reducing agitation.