Development of an assessment measure for sexual disinhibition in dementia

Abstract

Objective Sexual disinhibition (SD), a neuropsychiatric symptom characterized by sexually inappropriate comments and/or behaviors, remains under identified in dementia, possibly due to a lack of standardized assessment methods. A recent systematic review of measures used to assess SD proposed four behavioral domains and identified the need for a population‐specific measure. The present study addressed this by examining the underlying factor structure of SD to create a new caregiver‐report measure. Methods Dementia caregivers (n = 622) recruited online were randomly assigned to Initial Validation (n = 311) or Cross‐Validation (n = 311) groups. Results Initial Validation revealed five behavioral domains that served as provisional scales for cross‐validation, leading to measure development. Conclusions The current study is the first to statistically evaluate the underlying factor structure of SD, resulting in a new measure that can help better characterize and identify SD.

The Moderating Role of Pain Self-efficacy in the Relationships Among Caregiver Burden and Care Recipient Pain and Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in a Sample of Persons With Dementia

“…Caregivers of persons with dementia were recruited online through dementia caregiver social media groups for a previously described study (Chapman et al, under review). 4 To maximize heterogeneity, advertisements were placed in groups focused on a range of dementia subtypes (eg, vascular dementia, Alzheimer disease, etc.) and missions (eg, disseminating information, support groups, etc.).…”