Prevalence and clinical characteristics of catatonia in persons with dementia admitted to an acute old age psychiatry ward  Dr Puja Sharma, Dr Ina Sawhney, Dr Walter Jaimes-Albornoz and Dr Jordi Serra-Mestres, Older People and Healthy Aging Service Line, Woodland Centre, Hillingdon Hospital, Uxbridge Introduction Catatonia is a neuropsychiatric syndrome characterised by psychomotor abnormalities that is observed in a variety of medical, neurological and psychiatric disorders. Its main signs are stupor, mutism, rigidity, negativism, catalepsy and echophenomena [1]. Aim To determine the frequency and clinical characteristics of catatonia in persons with dementia admitted to an old age psychiatry ward. Method All patients admitted between July 2013 and December 2013 were routinely and prospectively screened for signs of catatonia using the Bush-Francis Catatonia Screening Instrument (BFCSI) [2]. Their clinical characteristics, treatment, and outcome to standard treatment were recorded. Results Conclusions Catatonia occurred in 42.8% of patients with dementia admitted to an old age psychiatry ward. The BFCSI [2] appears to be a simple and reliable instrument to detect catatonia in this patient group. Lorazepam seems to be an effective treatment [3][4] as observed in other studies of catatonia. Catatonia in dementia does not seem to be an infrequent finding hence it would be advisable to screen all patients with dementia admitted to hospital with the BFCSI [2], so that this condition is not missed and an appropriate treatment is given to prevent complications. During the study period, a total of 37 patients were admitted. Eleven patients (29.7%) presented with two or more signs of catatonia. Of patients with catatonia, six (54.5%) had a diagnosis of dementia. A total of 14 out of 37 patients admitted had a diagnosis of dementia. Proportion of catatonia in these patients was 42.8% (6 out of 14 patients), compared to 21.7% (5 out of 23) in patients with primary mental illnesses. All patients with dementia and catatonia presented between 4 and 8 signs on the BFCSI [2]. Five out of six of these patients received treatment with lorazepam, along with other interventions to manage their primary condition. Four out of five patients went into complete remission of catatonia and one had a partial remission. The only complication observed was a raised creatinine kinase in one patient, which later normalised. Due to the small sample size it was not possible to identify a particular profile of catatonic symptoms in these patients. References [1] Kalbhaum KL. Catatonia. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 1973. [2] Bush G, Fink M, Petrides G, et al. Catatonia I: Rating scale and standardized examination. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 1996;93:129–36. [3] Huang TL, Ree SC, et al. Catatonic Featrues: differential diangois and treatments at an emergency unit. Psychiatry clin Neurosci 1999;53:63-6 [4] Rosebush Pl, Hilderbrand AM, Furlong BG, et al. Catatonic syndrome in a general psychiatric inpatient population: frequency, clinical presentation, and response to lorazepam, J Clin Psychiatry 1990;51:357-62