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46/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 46 out of 100. Clinical safety

Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies

Plain-language summary

127 patients (67.7% males) participated. Nine in ten patients had moderately severe or severe cognitive decline. Behavior was rather heterogeneous, with agitation, general restlessness and verbal aggression present in 70% or more. Agitation was severely or extremely distressful for nursing staff in relation to one in four patients. Half of the patients were discharged to a regular dementia special care unit (DSCU), one in ten could not be discharged, and one-third died during their stay. Despite heterogenous and highly prevalent behaviors of patients, about half of the patients could be discharged to DSCUs after treatment in a highly specialized unit. Future studies should explore whether and how treatment is effective.

Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

APA 7th

van Voorden, G., Koopmans, R. T., Smalbrugge, M., Zuidema, S. U., van den Brink, A. M. A., Voshaar, R. C. O., et al. (2025). Patient characteristics, behavior, and discharge locations of patients with dementia and very severe challenging behavior. Aging & Mental Health. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2025.2465780

Vancouver

van Voorden G, Koopmans RT, Smalbrugge M, Zuidema SU, van den Brink AMA, Voshaar RCO, et al. Patient characteristics, behavior, and discharge locations of patients with dementia and very severe challenging behavior. Aging & Mental Health. 2025. doi:10.1080/13607863.2025.2465780. PMID: 39964772.

BibTeX

@article{vanvoorden2025-39964772,
  author  = {van Voorden, Gerrie and Koopmans, Raymond T.C.M. and Smalbrugge, Martin and Zuidema, Sytse Ulbe and van den Brink, Anne M. A. and Voshaar, Richard C. Oude and Gerritsen, Debby L.},
  title   = {{Patient characteristics, behavior, and discharge locations of patients with dementia and very severe challenging behavior}},
  journal = {Aging \& Mental Health},
  year    = {2025},
  doi     = {10.1080/13607863.2025.2465780},
  pmid    = {39964772},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2025.2465780}
}

Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record names 7 authors; APA and Vancouver show the first six, BibTeX and the downloads carry all of them. Check the citation against the original before you use it.

How to read this study

Design: our record does not state a study design, so check the methods section of the original before weighing the result.
Size: the record lists 127 participants. Ask whether that is enough for the question, and who they were.
Effect: the record reports “67.7%”. A statistically significant result can still be small in daily life.

What the evidence grade means here

This page is graded low. alzhub.org assigns the grade automatically from keywords in the abstract, not from reading the paper. Low means the abstract matched neither pattern. It is the default label, and it does not mean the work is poor; many sound lab and imaging papers land here. It can add at most 5 of the 100 points in the study score, and it is a label about design, not a verdict on whether the findings are true.

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Key findings

Nine in ten patients had moderately severe or severe cognitive decline.
Behavior was rather heterogeneous, with agitation, general restlessness and verbal aggression present in 70% or more.
Agitation was severely or extremely distressful for nursing staff in relation to one in four patients.
Half of the patients were discharged to a regular dementia special care unit (DSCU), one in ten could not be discharged, and one-third died during their stay.
Despite heterogenous and highly prevalent behaviors of patients, about half of the patients could be discharged to DSCUs after treatment in a highly specialized unit.

Why it matters

Among 127 patients with dementia and very severe challenging behavior, about half could be discharged to regular dementia special care units, one in ten could not be discharged, and one-third died during their stay. The study describes patient characteristics and outcomes, and the authors note that future work should explore whether and how treatment is effective.

Study details

Participants127
Effect size67.7%
Evidence strengthLow

How this study scored 46/100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design and randomized / blinded because the record does not state it.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	7 / 10	Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Aging & Mental Health)
Journal's citation record	2 / 4	Aging & Mental Health: journal h-index 153 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29)
Study design	0 / 12	No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Strength of evidence	1 / 5	Rated “low” in our summary
Peer-review validation	10 / 10	Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal.
How recent	4 / 5	2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	2 / 4	127 participants
Effect reported	2 / 3	Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test
Studied in people	3 / 3	Studied in people (participant count stated)
Randomized / blinded	0 / 2	No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Times cited	1 / 7	Cited 3 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	1 / 5	1.0 citations a year over 3 year(s) since 2025
Impact for its field and year	2 / 6	Cited 1.9× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	1 / 6	Cited by 1 other studies in this library
Still being cited	1 / 4	Cited 3 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	2 / 4	Last-listed author Debby L. Gerritsen: h-index 39 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	1 / 3	University of Groningen: institution h-index 1,383 (OpenAlex)
Multicenter collaboration	2 / 3	OpenAlex lists 6 institution(s) in 1 country
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 39964772)
Free to read	2 / 2	Free to read
Total	46 / 100	—

What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →

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