Dement Neurocogn Disord.  2018 Mar;17(1):23-31. 10.12779/dnd.2018.17.1.23.

The Effect of Cognitive Intervention on Cognitive Improvement in Patients with Dementia

• Jo K
• Jhoo JH
• Mun YJ
• Kim YM
• Kim SK
• Kim S
• Lee SH
• Jang JW

• KMID: 2442814
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.12779/dnd.2018.17.1.23

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
The effect of cognitive intervention in patients with dementia is inconsistent. This study sought to find out the effect of cognitive intervention by measuring interval change between before and after intervention.
METHODS
We evaluated cognitive changes according to clinical diagnostic group across Gangwon province for 940 patients with dementia diagnosed at hospital clinics and 2,975 subjects without dementia. All subjects were treated with cognitive intervention. They underwent a cognitive and mood assessment before and after intervention. We used interval change of Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores as a primary measure of interventional outcome.
RESULTS
Changes in mean MMSE score were significantly different between the non-dementia group and the dementia group (p=0.016), with changes of 0.7±2.4 and 1.0±3.7 points (±standard deviation), respectively. Cognitive improvement regarding completion of session was significantly higher in the dementia group (p=0.001), with changes of 0.41±4.51 for uncompleted group and 1.30±3.22 points for completed ones. Lower initial MMSE scores, lower age, and type of intervention were found to be independent predictive factors of subsequent cognitive changes as indicated by mean MMSE scores.
CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest that cognitive intervention might be useful for patients with dementia. Their response to treatment might be related to the type of intervention.

Keyword

Cognitive Therapy; Dementia

MeSH Terms

Cognitive Therapy
Dementia*
Gangwon-do
Humans

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Effect of completed session of cognitive intervention on patients with dementia based on mean changes in MMSE scores. MMSE: Mini-Mental State Examination, SD: standard deviation. *Significant difference between uncompleted and completed groups (p<0.001).

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  Fig. 2 Effect of cognitive intervention on depression as measured by mean changes in GDpS scores. GDpS: Geriatric Depression Scale, SD: standard deviation.

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