The guideline authors reviewed articles in the peer-reviewed literature from 1994-2003. To identify potentially useful items, the authors conducted a comprehensive search of Medline, CINAHL, and PsychInfo, using various combinations of relevant search terms, such as dementia, quality, long-term care, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and manual searches of all relevant articles' reference sections; these methods resulted in the collection of 325 articles.
These articles were reviewed and appear in the literature review only if they focus on long-term care facility residents with dementia, report on use of experimental or quasi-experimental methods, and report the statistical significance of findings. Trials are not included in the review if they have poorly defined interventions, fewer than 10 participants, or no control condition. Literature reviews and consensus statements, which reported systematic methods of analyzing extant studies, were included in the review if they were no more than five years old to ensure that valuable information published before 1994 could be included. This selection process resulted in the inclusion of 101 studies and review articles. Review of articles on assessment instruments and comparisons of the efficacy of different medications in the management of dementia symptoms are outside the scope of this review. The literature on special care units as an intervention is not in the review because the definition of such units varies considerably and results have been inconclusive.
2007 Update
The authors reviewed articles from 1994 to August 2006. To identify potentially useful sources, the authors relied on a comprehensive search of PubMed, CINAHL, PsychInfo, and Ageline databases, using various combinations of relevant search terms, such as dementia, falls, restraints, wandering, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, as well as manual searches of articles' reference sections; these methods resulted in the collection of 109 articles.
These articles were reviewed and appear in the literature review only if they include long-term care facility residents with dementia, report on use of experimental or quasi-experimental research, and report the statistical significance of findings. Trials are not included in the review if they have poorly defined interventions, fewer than 10 participants or no control condition. Literature reviews were included in this review if they were no more than five years old and reported systematic methods of analyzing studies.