Sex-, gender- and ethnically-sensitive aspects of psychosocial interventions for people living with dementia and BPSD: A protocol for a participatory umbrella review

Introduction Behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) affect up to 80% of people with dementia and pose significant challenges in the context of care. Psychosocial interventions have been recommended as first-line strategies, but the roles of aspects of sex, gender and ethnicity in this context remain underexplored. This umbrella review, which will be conducted as part of the GenderDem project, aims to synthesise existing reviews on psychosocial interventions for BPSD and to investigate the potential sex-, gender- and ethnicity-sensitive differences among them.Methods and analysis Our GenderDem project follows the methodology of the James Lind Alliance for Priority Setting Partnerships. As part of this approach, this participatory umbrella review actively involves people living with dementia, their caregivers and/or loved ones and healthcare professionals in examining the existing review literature.Different types of reviews on this topic will be identified by reference to the databases MEDLINE (via PubMed), CINAHL (via EBSCO) and PsycInfo (via Ovid) databases. Two reviewers will independently screen titles, abstracts and full texts using Rayyan. Data will be extracted in line with the Criteria for Reporting the Development and Evaluation of Complex Interventions in healthcare: revised reporting guidelines, supplemented with items pertaining to gender, sex and ethnicity. The results will be summarised descriptively, and relevant intervention types (including whether sex/gender/ethnicity has been taken into consideration), the characteristics of the study populations, outcomes and research gaps will be highlighted.Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval is not required, as this umbrella review will include only data from published studies. The findings of this review will be disseminated through a publication in a peer-reviewed journal and conference presentations.