Agitation in the elderly in the emergency department .

The current trend of population growth in the elderly population presents a challenge for psychiatric health care. Psychomotor agitation is a heterogeneous and relatively common clinical picture in psychiatric emergency. It is a broad concept encompassing several states. The etiology can be varied...

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Main Authors: Filipa Henriques, Sofia Domingues, Inês Amado, Mafalda Cotter, Humberto Figueiredo, Luísa Delgado
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Instituto Psiquiatría Psicodex SL 2021-09-01
Series:Psicosomática y Psiquiatría
Subjects:
Online Access:https://raco.cat/index.php/PsicosomPsiquiatr/article/view/391591
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author Filipa Henriques
Sofia Domingues
Inês Amado
Mafalda Cotter
Humberto Figueiredo
Luísa Delgado
author_facet Filipa Henriques
Sofia Domingues
Inês Amado
Mafalda Cotter
Humberto Figueiredo
Luísa Delgado
author_sort Filipa Henriques
collection DOAJ
description The current trend of population growth in the elderly population presents a challenge for psychiatric health care. Psychomotor agitation is a heterogeneous and relatively common clinical picture in psychiatric emergency. It is a broad concept encompassing several states. The etiology can be varied in particular medical, psychiatric and mixed situations. The psychiatrist should be aware of and sensitized to the high prevalence of organic etiology of these pictures. Medication for agitation, although commonly used, should not be regarded as long-term therapy. Non-pharmacological measures to reduce agitation should always be ensured. In this context, the authors found it pertinent to carry out a retrospective documentary study based on the analysis of 252 emergency episodes in patients aged 65 years and over who used the psychiatric emergency of CHMT-Tomar Unit in a period of 3 months. In this sample, 66 episodes (26.2%) of emergency were in the context of psychomotor agitation. The sample was characterized in terms of sociodemographic characteristics, etiology, therapeutics, referral and other variables that we considered relevant (44 variables) with results relevant to clinical practice in Psychiatry.
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spelling doaj.art-70eda2c0bd0a431799f4212d6e64c1a22023-06-28T20:01:24ZengInstituto Psiquiatría Psicodex SLPsicosomática y Psiquiatría2565-05642021-09-011010.34810/PsicosomPsiquiatrnum1004Agitation in the elderly in the emergency department .Filipa HenriquesSofia DominguesInês AmadoMafalda CotterHumberto FigueiredoLuísa Delgado The current trend of population growth in the elderly population presents a challenge for psychiatric health care. Psychomotor agitation is a heterogeneous and relatively common clinical picture in psychiatric emergency. It is a broad concept encompassing several states. The etiology can be varied in particular medical, psychiatric and mixed situations. The psychiatrist should be aware of and sensitized to the high prevalence of organic etiology of these pictures. Medication for agitation, although commonly used, should not be regarded as long-term therapy. Non-pharmacological measures to reduce agitation should always be ensured. In this context, the authors found it pertinent to carry out a retrospective documentary study based on the analysis of 252 emergency episodes in patients aged 65 years and over who used the psychiatric emergency of CHMT-Tomar Unit in a period of 3 months. In this sample, 66 episodes (26.2%) of emergency were in the context of psychomotor agitation. The sample was characterized in terms of sociodemographic characteristics, etiology, therapeutics, referral and other variables that we considered relevant (44 variables) with results relevant to clinical practice in Psychiatry. https://raco.cat/index.php/PsicosomPsiquiatr/article/view/391591AgitationElderlyEmergencyPsychopharmacologyPsychiatryPsychogeriatrics
spellingShingle Filipa Henriques
Sofia Domingues
Inês Amado
Mafalda Cotter
Humberto Figueiredo
Luísa Delgado
Agitation in the elderly in the emergency department .
Psicosomática y Psiquiatría
Agitation
Elderly
Emergency
Psychopharmacology
Psychiatry
Psychogeriatrics
title Agitation in the elderly in the emergency department .
title_full Agitation in the elderly in the emergency department .
title_fullStr Agitation in the elderly in the emergency department .
title_full_unstemmed Agitation in the elderly in the emergency department .
title_short Agitation in the elderly in the emergency department .
title_sort agitation in the elderly in the emergency department
topic Agitation
Elderly
Emergency
Psychopharmacology
Psychiatry
Psychogeriatrics
url https://raco.cat/index.php/PsicosomPsiquiatr/article/view/391591
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AT inesamado agitationintheelderlyintheemergencydepartment
AT mafaldacotter agitationintheelderlyintheemergencydepartment
AT humbertofigueiredo agitationintheelderlyintheemergencydepartment
AT luisadelgado agitationintheelderlyintheemergencydepartment