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S072-3

Systematic Review of Non-Pharmacological Intervention for Persons with
Behavior and Psychological Symptoms in Taiwan

Wen-Chen Ouyang

Changhua Christian Hospital and Lutung Christian Hospital, Taiwan

Background/Objective: Non-pharmacological interventions are often recommended as a first-line
intervention for behavior and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD). In this review,
non-pharmacological interventions such as music therapy, aromatherapy, multi-sensory stimulation,
reminiscence intervention, and exercise program will be reviewed for effectiveness for BPSD and the
feasibility of these above interventions in Taiwan.

Method: We searched the electronic databases MEDLINE (1980-2013) and National Central Library
in Taiwan (2000-2013) using keywords and medical subject headings for studies evaluating
non-pharmacological interventions for BPSD conducted in Taiwan and written in English or
traditional Chinese. We assessed outcome measure and study quality, and described the feasibility of
interventions based on various aspects of study design.

Result: (1) Four of 18 studies on music therapy for BPSD were randomized-controlled trials (RCT)
in Taiwan. Group music intervention had a significantly lower scores of anxiety, agitated behavior,
physically non-aggressive behavior, verbally non-aggressive behavior, and physically aggressive
behavior, and had got improvement of cognition in spit of small sample size. (2) Two of 8
reminiscence therapy were RCT. Depression score was reduced in both RCTs after reminiscence
intervention. (3) No aromatherapy or exercise program for BPSD in Taiwan was found. (4) Only one
non-RCT on multi-sensory stimulation for BPSD was found in Taiwan, and showed significant
improvement in overall NPI sore and irritability after completion of the 12-week treatment regimen.

Conclusion: The effectiveness of variant non-pharmacological interventions is worth further
studying in Taiwan. Limitation occurred due to non-blinded, non-RCT study design, small sample
size, “dose” or duration of intervention, measurement for outcome, and timing of outcome measure.