British researchers have raised ethical questions about the use of electronic "tagging" to safeguard wandering patients with Alzheimer's in an editorial in the British Medical Journal.

Electronic tagging, consisting of a band usually placed around the patient's wrist or ankle, is sometimes used to keep patients from wandering into danger. The circuitry in the tag either sets off a boundary alarm or emits a radio signal that allows the patient to be tracked with the use of a handheld detector.

Wandering of dementia patients can cause enormous stress to caregivers, leading to referrals to hospitals and nursing homes.

However, electronic tracking devices might settle the anxiety of the caregivers without dealing with the needs of the patient, the researchers said in the editorial.

They argued that although tagging provides an element of safety, there is a need to protect a person's right to privacy, especially in patients with mild dementia.

"However severe a person's dementia, it should not be taken for granted that his or her need to wander is simply a matter of pathology that requires management rather than understanding," the authors wrote.

"It seems important, then, for the libertarian flag to be kept flying -- for the sake of the individual and even in the face of convincing evidence (which is not yet apparent) that tagging improves overall quality of life. The risks and restrictions of alternatives to tagging, including the loss of privacy entailed in benign surveillance, should be kept in mind," they continued.

It is important to understand the wandering behavior and look for the least restrictive way of dealing with it, concluded the editorial.

The authors of the editorial are Julian C. Huges, consultant in old age psychiatry at Newcastle General Hospital and Stephen J. Louw, consultant physician at Freeman Hospital, both in Newcastle upon Tyne in England.

Other sources: British Medical Journal