PERCENT INCREASE RISK. THE SAME FACTORS WERE ASSOCIATED WITH VERBAL AGGRESSION, EXCEPT FOR CONSTIPATION. WHILE SEVERAL OTHER STUDIES HAVE FOUND AN ASSOCIATION BETWEEN DEPRESSION AND PHYSICAL AGGRESSION AMONG NURSING HOME RESIDENTS, NO PUBLISHED STUDY OF TREATMENT FOR THIS BEHAVIOR INCLUDED AN ANTIDEPRESSANT, LEONARD AND HIS TEAM POINT OUT. "THUS, THE RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF DEPRESSION AS A POTENTIALLY MODIFIABLE RISK FACTOR MAY NOT BE RECOGNIZED," THEY WRITE IN THE ANNALS OF INTERNAL MEDICINE. IT IS NOT CLEAR WHY CONSTIPATION MIGHT INCREASE THE RISK OF AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR, THE RESEARCHERS NOTE. THEY SUGGEST THAT RESIDENTS MAY LASH OUT DEFENSIVELY AS A REACTION TO THE SYMPTOMS OF CONSTIPATION ITSELF OR TO INVASIVE TREATMENTS FOR CONSTIPATION, SUCH AS SUPPOSITORIES. ALL OF THESE FACTORS MAY BE TREATED OR MODIFIED, AND IF INTERVENTION IS SUCCESSFUL, IT MAY REDUCE THE RISK OF VIOLENCE AND HARM BY THESE NURSING HOME RESIDENTS, THE RESEARCHERS CONCLUDE.
