Behavioral disorders, such as agitation and disability in daily skills, include symptoms of disturbed perception, thought content, mood or behavior that frequently occur in patients with dementia. These behavioral disturbances rather than cognitive disorders are the main reason why caregivers place patients in a nursing home.

The participants (103 patients) age 55 years or more had diagnosis of Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, Mood disorders and Mental disorders due to a general medical condition (DSM IV-TR criteria) from the psychogeriatric units of the psychiatric hospital of Attica. They were all assessed using the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) and Katz Instrumental Activities Scale (KATZ) to evaluate agitation, irritability and daily skills functionality.

Of the sample of 103 Greek long term inpatients, 32% had clinical manifestation of aggression, 43.7% had severe daily skills dysfunction (with KATZ score 1–2), 19.4% moderate (KATZ score 3–4) and 36.9% had no dysfunction. NPI detected agitation in 55.3% of the sample and irritability in 49.5%.

Behavioral disturbances, agitation and disability in daily skills are common among older hospitalized patients, and psychometric scales like NPI and KATZ are valuable instruments that could prove to be an easy way to detect early signs of behavioral manifestations and exacerbation of a variety of mental disorders in elderly populations. They should be implemented in the usual clinical practice.