A mentally stimulating activities program for the treatment of neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer’s disease
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5055/ajrt.2019.0200Keywords:
mentally stimulating activities, support groups, apathy, Alzheimer’s disease, DepressionAbstract
This study evaluated whether a mentally stimulating activities (MSA) program reduced neuropsychiatric symptoms and improved cognitive status and quality of life, as compared to a support group for persons in the early stage of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This randomized controlled trial included 81 adults (aged 55+), who were randomly assigned to the MSA group (treatment) or a social support group (control). A repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) identified that MSA participants significantly reduced apathy (p < 0.001) and depressive symptoms (p < 0.001), as well as improved cognitive status (p < 0.001) and quality of life (p < 0.001) as compared to the control group. A structured classroom-style MSA program may be a viable and therapeutic intervention to alleviate neuropsychiatric symptoms, and improve cognitive status and quality of life in early-stage AD.
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