Abstract
Purpose: to describe a series of cases of older people with a clinical diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment or dementia at elderly long-term residences using virtual reality as cognitive rehabilitation.Methods: this study is a series of cases. Older adults diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment or dementia were included. Elderly people with visual and/or hearing problems that made it impossible to carry out the training were excluded. The same tests were used after intervention and at follow up after 15 days.Results: final sample consisted of 13 women and the mean age was 81.77 years (± 6.94). Patients were divided into 2 groups: mild cognitive impairment group and the dementia group. According to the therapeutic objectives aimed at improving fluency, among the results, the improvement in the scores to the group mild cognitive impairment stands out for the phonemic verbal fluency tests 23.63 (± 12.72) pre-test and 29.50 (± 11.14) post-test. There was an improvement in mild cognitive impairment group scores for the phonemic verbal fluency tests 23.63 (± 12.72) pretest and 29.50 (± 11.14) post-test. In the dementia group, test scores were 10 (± 5, 47) pretest and 12.80 (± 5.72) post-test. On the semantic verbal fluency test, the mild cognitive impairment group showed improvement 11.00 (± 3.62) pretest and 13.88 (± 6.03) post-test, while the dementia group test scores were 7.60 (± 4.56) pretest and 8.20 (± 5.12) post-test.Conclusion: regarding phonemic verbal fluency, virtual reality may be a good resource for improving the performance of older adults with mild cognitive impairment. Results were not maintained in the medium term, showing the importance of continual training.
Highlights
The increase in life expectancy has given rise to higher rates of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia among the older adults
The first group consisted of 8 women diagnosed with MCI and the second group containing 5 women diagnosed with dementia
The duration of institutionalization it is observed that the total average time was 1.00 (± 0.519) years, for the MCI Group it was 1.63 (± 0.518) years and for the Dementia Group it was 1.20 (± 0.447) years
Summary
The increase in life expectancy has given rise to higher rates of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia among the older adults. MCI is defined as a syndrome characterized by cognitive decline with essentially preserved activities of daily living (ADLs)[1]. Dementia is a condition in which one or more cognitive domains are significantly impaired, leading to a loss in autonomy in ADLs4. One of them is virtual reality (VR), a technology used for several purposes that simulates real-life environments or activities[7,8]. This strategy provides an immersive, interactive, and three-dimensional virtual experience that stimulates the patient’s active participation, even in cases of cognitive impairment. VR training offers activities within rich, safe, and challenging environments, promoting motor stimuli and increased neuroplasticity[9,10]
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