The purpose of this experimental study was to examine the effect of structured exercise and structured reminiscing on agitation and aggression experienced by the geriatric psychiatric patient. A purposive sampling technique was used in this pre-test-post-test control group design to obtain subjects who met the criteria and who were then randomly assigned to experimental and control groups.

The instrument utilized in this study, the Overt Aggression and Agitation Scale (OAAS) was an adaptation of Yudofsky's (1986) Overt Aggression Scale. The OAAS was adapted to capture agitation behaviors which commonly precede aggression; this was not a focus of Yudofsky's scale. Data were collected from 39 patients residing in a long term geriatric psychiatric unit located in the northeastern United States. Observations of patient agitation and aggression behaviors were recorded each day for a five month period.

Analysis of variance indicated that the exercise and reminiscing groups showed less agitation than the control group in the last month of the study substantiating that intervention had a significant effect on the behaviors of these patients. Although statistically insignificant, the actual incidents of aggression decreased over the five month period.

This study suggests that the use of structured exercise and structured reminiscing have efficacy in managing agitation in the chronic geriatric psychiatric population and are recommended to be used as strategies to reduce agitation and improve overall patient functioning.