Abstract
PurposeMajor neurocognitive disorders (MND) have multiple negative consequences on patients’ lives and on their caregivers’ health. Occupational therapy and cognitive stimulation have failed to show any significant efficacy on quality of life (QoL), cognitive functioning and behavioural symptoms. Bretonneau Hospital's Day Care Unit offers personalized and structured multi-domain interventions to cognitively impaired older patients on a weekly basis, for a 3-month period. ObjectivesOur objective was to determine whether a specific rehabilitation day care unit (RDCU) could influence the QoL of cognitively impaired community-dwelling elderly patients. We also aimed to better understand the characteristics of patients who had the most benefited from the RDCU. MethodsRetrospective study based on a sample of outpatients participating in RDCU during three months. All patients underwent a cognitive (MMS), functional (IADl, ADL) and behavioral (NPI) assessment. We compared QoL using the QoL-Alzheimer's Disease (QoL-AD) scale before and after RDCU. ResultsOverall, we included 60 outpatients in our study (mean age 83.3±5.8; women=70%). We found a statistically significant improvement of QoL-AD scores after RDCU (31.8±4.9 to 32.9±5.2, P=0.008). Patients who benefitted the most from RDCU were older (P=0.01) and had lower baseline QoL (P=0.04). We did not find any other characteristics associated with QoL-AD score improvement in our population. ConclusionRDCU showed positive effects on QoL in this uncontrolled pilot study of older adults with MND. These findings should be confirmed in a future randomized controlled trial to corroborate the potential benefits of RDCU on QoL in older cognitively impaired patients.
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