Music & MEmory: A Pragmatic TRial for Nursing Home Residents With ALzheimer's Disease_part1

The tool used to interview staff about resident behaviors is the Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory. Research staff interview a nursing staff member who knows the resident well to ask how frequently 29 agitated and/or aggressive behaviors occurred in the past week. There are seven response choices for each item, anchored from never (1) to several times per hour (7). Total scores on the Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory range from 29 to 203, with higher scores representing more frequent agitated and/or aggressive behaviors. Adjusted mean overall scores will be compared for treatment and control populations.

The tool used to directly observe resident behaviors is the Agitation Behavior Mapping Instrument. Research staff observe residents for short intervals (3 minutes per observation) and record the number of times 14 specific verbally and physically agitated behaviors occurred (up to 10 times per observation). Ordinal outcomes quantify the number of physical and verbal agitated behaviors that occurred during the ABMI observations. The levels of these outcomes are None (0), Some (1 - 3) and Many (4 or more) observed behaviors.

The Aggressive Behavior Scale is a 4-item measure describing the frequency of physical behavioral symptoms directed toward others; verbal behavioral symptoms directed toward others; other behavioral symptoms not directed toward others; and behaviors related to resisting necessary care. For each item, frequency in the past week is reported as: behavior not exhibited (0); behavior occurred 1-3 days (1); behavior occurred 4-6 days (2); or behavior occurred daily (3). The Aggressive Behavior Scale ranges from 0 to 12, with higher scores indicating more frequent agitated and/or aggressive behaviors. Mean total scores will be compared for treatment and control populations.

Any antipsychotic use in the past week, based on Minimum Data Set (standardized assessment of nursing home residents). Measure type of mean is chosen based on adjusted percentage with standard errors from a multilevel, difference in difference regression models.

Any antianxietal use in the past week, based on Minimum Data Set (standardized assessment of nursing home residents). Measure type of mean is chosen based on adjusted percentage with standard errors from a multilevel, difference in difference regression models.

Any antidepressant use in the past week and days of use in the past week, based on Minimum Data Set (standardized assessment of nursing home residents). Measure type of mean is chosen based on adjusted percentage with standard errors from a multilevel, difference in difference regression models.

Any hypnotic use in the past week, based on Minimum Data Set (standardized assessment of nursing home residents). Comparison of percent with any use will be compared for treatment and control populations.

The Patient Health Questionnaire is a 9-item screening assessment for depression severity. For each item, respondents indicate the frequency of the symptom in the past 2 weeks using the following choices: never or one day (0); 2-6 days (1); 7-11 days (2); or 12-14 days (3). Total scores range from 0 to 27, with higher scores indicating more frequent depressive symptoms. Average total scores will be compared for treatment and control populations.

The tool used to directly observe resident behaviors is the Agitation Behavior Mapping Instrument. Research staff observe residents for short intervals (3 minutes per observation) and record the number of times 14 specific verbally and physically agitated behaviors occurred (up to 10 times per observation). We report the proportion of participants with no behaviors, some behaviors (1-3 ), many behaviors (4+)

The Observed Emotion Rating Scale is completed by a trained observer to document duration of five observed emotional states (pleasure, anger, anxiety / fear, sadness, and general alertness) during short observations (3 minutes per observation). For each emotional state, the researcher indicates whether or not the emotion was observed: never (1); less than 16 seconds (2); 16-59 seconds (3); 1-2 minutes (4); or 3+ minutes (5). Total scores range from 5 to 25, with higher scores indicating greater duration of observed emotion. We report the proportion of participants with any observed emotion during the structured observations after four months of follow-up.

The Observed Emotion Rating Scale is completed by a trained observer to document duration of five observed emotional states (pleasure, anger, anxiety / fear, sadness, and general alertness) during short observations (3 minutes per observation). For each emotional state, the researcher indicates whether or not the emotion was observed: never (1); less than 16 seconds (2); 16-59 seconds (3); 1-2 minutes (4); or 3+ minutes (5). Total scores range from 5 to 25, with higher scores indicating greater duration of observed emotion. Average observed emotion scores will be compared for treatment and control populations. We report the proportion of participants with any observed anger during observations after four months of followup.

The Observed Emotion Rating Scale is completed by a trained observer to document duration of five observed emotional states (pleasure, anger, anxiety / fear, sadness, and general alertness) during short observations (3 minutes per observation). For each emotional state, the researcher indicates whether or not the emotion was observed: never (1); less than 16 seconds (2); 16-59 seconds (3); 1-2 minutes (4); or 3+ minutes (5). Total scores range from 5 to 25, with higher scores indicating greater duration of observed emotion. Average observed emotion scores will be compared for treatment and control populations. We report the proportion of participants any sadness observed during structured observations after four months of follow-up

The Observed Emotion Rating Scale is completed by a trained observer to document duration of five observed emotional states (pleasure, anger, anxiety / fear, sadness, and general alertness) during short observations (3 minutes per observation). For each emotional state, the researcher indicates whether or not the emotion was observed: never (1); less than 16 seconds (2); 16-59 seconds (3); 1-2 minutes (4); or 3+ minutes (5). Total scores range from 5 to 25, with higher scores indicating greater duration of observed emotion. Average observed emotion scores will be compared for treatment and control populations. We report the proportion of participants with any observed alertness during structured observations after four months of followup

The Observed Emotion Rating Scale is completed by a trained observer to document duration of five observed emotional states (pleasure, anger, anxiety / fear, sadness, and general alertness) during short observations (3 minutes per observation). For each emotional state, the researcher indicates whether or not the emotion was observed: never (1); less than 16 seconds (2); 16-59 seconds (3); 1-2 minutes (4); or 3+ minutes (5). Total scores range from 5 to 25, with higher scores indicating greater duration of observed emotion. Average observed emotion scores will be compared for treatment and control populations. We report the proportion of participants with any observed anxiety during structured observations after four months of follow-up