Cognitive stimulation and psychosocial results in older adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Isabel Gómez-Soria, Isabel Iguacel, Juan Nicolás Cuenca-Zaldívar, Alejandra Aguilar-Latorre, Patricia Peralta-Marrupe, Eva Latorre, Estela Calatayud

Journal: Archives of gerontology and geriatrics 2023;115():105114

PMID: 37451002

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Plain Language Summary

Individuals with dementia and brain function impairment may have difficulty in completing day-to-day tasks. Cognitive stimulation (CS), which involves brain processing activities such as puzzles, word games, and music normally performed in a group setting for around 45 minutes per week, has been shown to be a cost-effective therapy. This systematic review and meta-analysis of 30 studies aimed to analyse the effect of CS on quality of life (QoL). The results showed that personalised CS was associated with a significantly higher QoL, but had no effect on mood and depression, ability to perform daily activities, or mood and anxiety. Personalised CS improves QoL in older adults with healthy cognitive ageing, mild cognitive impairment, or dementia. This study could be used by healthcare professionals to recommend CS as a therapy for individuals with brain ageing, mild cognitive impairment, or dementia. For those who are also suffering from depression and low mood other strategies should be employed.

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Cognitive stimulation (CS) is a popular and cost-effective intervention, which applies different types of techniques focused on cognitive skills and can be administered by different professionals. CS can be defined as activities that involve cognitive processing usually conducted in a social context and often in a group. Therefore, CS can improve psychosocial functioning and quality of life (QoL), depression, anxiety and activities of daily living (ADLs) independent of the pharmacological treatment such as acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the effects of CS on psychosocial outcomes in older adults (aged 65 years or over), with healthy cognitive ageing, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and dementia.

METHODS

PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science databases were examined from inception to October 2021. A total of 1,997 studies were initially identified in these databases. After discarding studies that did not meet the inclusion criteria, 30 studies were finally included in the systematic review and the meta-analysis performed with robust variance estimator (RVE) due the inclusion of studies with repeated measurements. The quality assessment tools from the National Institutes of Health were used to evaluate the quality of the studies.

RESULTS

CS was significantly associated with a higher QoL in participants who received personalized/adapted CS (RVE = 0.11±0.19 [-0.76, 0.99], t(1.86) = 0.6, p = 0.61). .

CONCLUSION

Personalized/adapted CS seems to improve QoL in older adults.

Address: Department of Physiatry and Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Zaragoza, Spain; Institute for Health Research Aragón (IIS Aragón), Zaragoza, Spain.; Department of Physiatry and Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Zaragoza, Spain; Institute for Health Research Aragón (IIS Aragón), Zaragoza, Spain; Growth, Exercise, Nutrition and Development (GENUD) Research Group, University of Zaragoza, Spain. Electronic address: [email protected].; Research Group in Nursing and Health Care, Puerta de Hierro Health Research Institute - Segovia de Arana (IDIPHISA), 28222 Majadahonda (Madrid), Spain; Primary Health Center "El Abajon", 28231 Las Rozas de Madrid, Spain; Universidad de Alcalá, Facultad de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud, Departamento de Enfermería y Fisioterapia, Grupo de Investigación en Fisioterapia y Dolor, 28801 Alcalá de Henares, Spain.; Institute for Health Research Aragón (IIS Aragón), Zaragoza, Spain; Department of Psychology and Sociology, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain.; Department of Physiatry and Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Zaragoza, Spain.; Institute for Health Research Aragón (IIS Aragón), Zaragoza, Spain; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular and Cell Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Zaragoza, Spain.

DOI: 10.1016/j.archger.2023.105114