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Getting lost in the community: a phone survey on the community‐dwelling demented people in Hong Kong
Author(s) -
Kwok Timothy C. Y.,
Yuen Kenneth S. L.,
Ho Florence K. Y.,
Chan W. M.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
international journal of geriatric psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.28
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1099-1166
pISSN - 0885-6230
DOI - 10.1002/gps.2361
Subject(s) - dementia , gerontology , telephone survey , medicine , demography , phone , psychology , disease , pathology , marketing , sociology , business , linguistics , philosophy
Objective Research from Western countries reported that the incidence rate of dementia patients getting lost in the community ranged from 30 to 60%. It had imposed significant burden on the caregivers. In the current study, we investigated the situation on the incidents of getting lost in a densely populated as well as homogenous community environment. Methods Two hundred and fifty one caregivers of older adults with demented people who had either used dementia day care service or participated in a community survey were interviewed on the telephone. Respondents were asked on older adult's experience of getting lost in the community and their mode of care. Correlating factors of such incidents were examined. Results The overall prevalence of lost history in our subjects was 27.5%. The subjects recruited from day care center were much more likely than those recruited from the community survey to have lost history (39.2% vs. 7.5%, p < 0.0001, χ 2 test). Greater degrees of cognitive decline were associated with greater chance of having had lost episodes. Immobility was associated with lower risk. Both the older people and their caregivers had reported significant degrees of psychological disturbances after the incidents. Conclusion Demented people with greater degrees of cognitive decline and with mobility maintained are at greater risk of getting lost. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.