Survey Reveals Impact of Dementia-Related Psychosis  

Findings from a qualitative and quantitative survey published in Clinical Gerontologist reveal the impact of dementia-related psychosis (DRP) symptoms, including hallucinations and delusions. The survey was answered by 26 people with DRP and 186 care partners of people with DRP. 

Key findings of the survey include the fact that over half of care partners (53.8%) reported that patients were not at all comfortable or only a little comfortable discussing the symptoms of dementia-related psychosis with those closest to them. Also, during the qualitative survey, most participants reported that symptoms such as visual hallucinations, auditory hallucinations, and persecutory delusions have an impact on activities of daily living, sleep, family life, and safety concerns.

Patients reported their most frequent symptoms as visual hallucinations (93.8%), auditory hallucinations (68.8%), persecutory delusions (56.3%), gustatory hallucinations (37.5%), and olfactory hallucinations (31.3%). For patients, the areas of life that were affected by these symptoms were activities of daily living (75%), sleep/sundowning (62.5%), safety (56.3%), family life (56.3%), and sadness (43.8%). 

For care partners, the symptoms that had the largest impacts, rated as first or second most impactful, were paranoid delusions or false beliefs (~79%), visual hallucinations (~58%), lack of trust in loved ones, distortion of senses (~39%), and auditory hallucinations (~35%).

The online survey was conducted by Us Against Alzheimer's, the Lewy Body Dementia Association, and Acadia Pharmaceuticals.