Violence among psychogeriatric inpatients with dementia

The characteristics of all patients with dementia admitted to an acute psychogeriatric admission ward over a 36-month period were examined. Patients with dementia who had been responsible for acts of violence were compared with those with dementia who had not. Violent patients were more likely to have an ICD-9 diagnosis of senile dementia. Levels of violence were low, with only a small number of patients exhibiting violent behaviour. The implications of these findings for evaluative studies of pharmacotherapy and staff training in aggression control techniques are discussed.