Table 2.

Five proposed definitions of agitation in dementia and the number of respondents who ranked each of them as the best or the second-best definition

definition	percentage of respondents who ranked the definition as the best	percentage of respondents who ranked the definition as the second best
The patient has periods when he refuses to cooperate, won't let people help, or is hard to handle.	4	4
Excessive motor activity associated with a feeling of inner tension. The activity is usually non-productive and repetitious and consists of such behavior as inability to sit still, pacing, wringing of hands, and pulling at clothes.	31	19
Inappropriate verbal, vocal, or motor activity that is not explained by needs or confusion per se. It includes behaviors such as aimless wandering, pacing, cursing, screaming, biting, and fighting.	22	38
Vocal or motor behavior that is either disruptive, unsafe, or interferes with the delivery of care in a particular environment. It included four behavioral areas such as vocalization, motor disturbances, aggressiveness, and resisting care.	34	26
Those observed patient behaviors that communicate to others that the patient is experiencing an unpleasant state of excitement and which remain after interventions to reduce internal or external stimuli by managing resistiveness, alleviating aversive physical signs, and decreasing sources of accumulated stress have been carried out.	9	12