Nonpharmacologic interventions for inappropriate behaviors in dementia: a review, summary, and critique

CRD COMMENTARY: A clear review question was addressed by the stated inclusion criteria. The literature search was very limited in its reporting of the search criteria and dates. Unpublished material was not included, thus there is a risk of publication bias in the results. Any language restrictions were not stated so, overall, it is possible that additional studies were missed. The author did not state how the papers were assessed for validity. A variety of study designs were included, many of which did not include a control group. The studies were grouped and summarised appropriately in a narrative synthesis. The author was aware of the heterogeneity of the methods, treatment applications and outcome measures used in the studies. Thus, it was decided to synthesise the literature rather than perform comparisons between studies. This is a very useful overview of the field, which highlights the need for larger, better designed trials to measure more accurately the effectiveness of non-pharmacologic interventions.