TAMPA, Fla., March 26 One in five cognitively impaired VA nursing home patients were prone to aimless wandering through facilities, says a recent U.S. study.The study in the The Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, which involved more than 15,000 cognitively impaired patients, found the wandering patients put themselves at increased health risks, as well as created strain on nursing staff.Study co-author Dr. Lawrence Schonfeld of the International Research Consortium on Wandering and the University of South Florida said adverse outcomes associated with wandering include: an increased incidence of weight loss, fatigue, sleep disturbance, getting lost, injuries as a result of falling and untimely death.However, under controlled conditions some facilities provide, wandering can have a positive effect because it is physical exercise and may provide opportunities for social interactions with other residents isolated in their rooms -- if the visits were welcome.Overall, wandering increased caregiver stress. Especially since wandering is not exclusively related to a patient's mobility, 25 percent of wanderers studied required wheelchair assistance, according to Schonfeld.Copyright 2007 by UPI
