Affiliations: Department of Medical Genetics, Churchill Hospital, Headington, Oxford, UK | The Maudsley Hospital, London SE5 8AZ, UK | Current address: Section of Epidemiology and General Practice, Institute of Psychiatry, London SE5 8AF, UK
Note: [] Correspondence to: R.S. Shiwach, Deal Mental Health Centre, Bowling Green Lane, London Road, Deal, Kent CT14 9HF.
Abstract: We describe a cross-sectional study of aggressive behaviour in a sample of patients suffering from Huntington's disease in a residential nursing home. Data were obtained using the RAGE, a behaviourally oriented rating scale for measuring aggressive behaviour in cognitively impaired patients. Nursing staff rated 27 patients after a 3 day observation period. A third of the sample were rated to be at least mildly aggressive; the frequencies of some specific types of aggressive behaviour were high. In contrast, the frequency of injuries sustained and the use of restraints and medication for aggressive behaviour were low. Aggressive behaviour was found to be significantly related to the degree of functional impairment. These data are compared with those reported in a study using the RAGE to assess aggressive behaviour in a sample of elderly patients with dementia.
