Abstract

Aim: The present study aimed to clarify factors surrounding the dilemma of using physical restraints on elderly patients with dementia.
Methods: We developed a 16-item survey to assess dilemma coping items. Subjects: In particular, we surveyed how nurses who live with elderly relatives coped with this issue. We enrolled 269 nurses who worked in general wards of the 3 hospitals and who agreed to participate in the present study. Ethical considerations: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Nursing Department of the Meiji University of Integrative Medicine.
Results and Considerations: We extracted four items with a characteristic value of one or greater, which yielded a significant KMO value of 0.79 and a cumulative contribution ratio of 66.8%. Cronbach’s α coefficient for composing items of each factor were 0.87, 0.83, 0.60, and 0.68 for factors 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. The same procedure as described above was performed for the 16 dilemma coping items among nurses who did not live with elderly relatives, which resulted in a total of 16 final items used in the analysis. Three items with a characteristic value of one or greater were extracted, revealing a significant KMO value of 0.78 and a cumulative contribution ratio of 56.8%. Cronbach’s α coefficient for composing items of each factor were 0.84, 0.85 and 0.79 for factors 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Therefore, we found that exposure or living with elderly relatives influenced nurses’ coping with this dilemma.