Effectiveness of Early Multimodal Non-pharmacological Interventions in Cognitive Preservation in the Elderly

Multimodal non-pharmacological interventions (MNPI) have been determined as effective in delaying cognitive deterioration. The effectiveness of timing of such interventions in elderly is less discussed. We compared the different effectiveness of MNPI in cognitive preservation in elderly subjects with and without dementia.

We enrolled volunteer the elderly subjects. Subjects were classified as dementia group and non-dementia group by instrument of ascertainment of dementia 8. All were assigned to attend 3 hours of MNPI (physical fitness training, Chinese capillary, and Chinese drawings and paintings) twice a week over a 16-week period. Neuropsychiatric tests, including Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Cognitive Assessment Screening Instrument (CASI), clinical dementia rating (CDR), and neuropsychiatric inventory (NPI), were administered before and 1 year after MNPI. We demonstrated the changes of cognition and behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) before and after MNPI. We compared the different effectiveness of cognition preservation between two groups.

In total, there were 43 participants in our study, including 18 with non-dementia and 25 with dementia. The non-dementia group had a significantly higher proportion of cognitive preservation in remote memory (100.0% vs 68.0%, P = .007), orientation (94.4% vs 48.0%, P = .001), drawing (94.4% vs 64.0%, P = .021) and language (77.8% vs 48.0%, P = .049) than the dementia group. The highest proportion of preserved cognition after MNPI was remote memory (100%), followed by orientation (94.4%) and drawing (94.4%) in the non-dementia group. The highest proportion of preserved cognition after MNPI was attention (72%) followed by remote memory (68%), recent memory (64%) and drawing (64%) in the dementia group. Overall, their improved rate in behavioral and psychological symptoms was 55.6%.

Our study concluded the benefits of early MNPI in cognition preservation in the elderly, especially in the field of remote memory, orientation, drawing and language.