Using Structured Observations to Evaluate the Effects of a Personalized Music Intervention on Agitated Behaviors and Mood in Nursing Home Residents With Dementia: Results From an Embedded, Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial

Objective: The objective of this research was to determine if a personalized music intervention reduced the frequency of agitated behaviors as measured by structured observations of nursing home (NH) residents with dementia. Design: The design was a parallel, cluster-randomized, controlled trial. Setting: The setting was 54 NH (27 intervention, 27 control) from four geographically-diverse, multifacility NH corporations. Participants: The participants were 976 NH residents (483 intervention, 493 control) with Alzheimer's disease or related dementias (66% with moderate to severe symptoms); average age 80.3 years (SD: 12.3) and 25.1% were Black. Intervention: The intervention was individuals' preferred music delivered via a personalized music device. Measurement: The measurement tool was the Agitated Behavior Mapping Instrument, which captures the frequency of 13 agitated behaviors and Pive mood states during 3-minute observations. Results: The results show that no verbally agitated behaviors were reported in a higher