Development and Impact of a Cognitive Reserve Enhancement Program for Climacteric Korean Women

In light of the rising incidence of mild cognitive impairment in women, an appropriate cognitive reserve enhancement program is urgently needed for women experiencing climacteric symptoms.

The purpose of this study was to develop a cognitive reserve enhancement program for climacteric women based on cognitive reserve theory (CRT) and to verify its effectiveness.

A nonequivalence control group, pre- and post-quasi-experimental design was used. The 58 climacteric women with subjective memory deterioration enrolled as participants were divided into the experimental group (28 women), which received a 24-session CRT-based cognitive reserve enhance program, and the control group (30 women), the members of which received the cognitive training via a mobile application after completion of the study. Valid data from 24 experimental and 26 control participants were available for analysis. Objective cognitive functions, including overall cognitive, memory, attention, and language, were measured pretest and posttest using the following tools: Everyday Cognition Scale (subjective cognitive function), Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (depression), and World Health Organization Quality of Life-Brief Version (quality of life).

The experimental group showed a statistically significant increase in overall cognitive function (t = 3.82, p = .001), memory (t = 2.63, p = .012), attention: number of correct answers (t = 2.12, p = .040), language high-frequency response speed (Z = -2.49, p = .013), and language low-frequency response speed (Z = -2.77, p = .006) in objective cognitive function after 8 weeks in comparison to the control group.

The intervention program tested in this study to enhance cognitive reserve in climacteric women includes cognitive training, emotional and social support, and group physical activity components was found to be effective in enhancing cognitive function.