Abstract
Prospective Memory (PM) is a cognitive function affected by aging. PM is the memory of future intentions and is significantly involved in everyday life, especially among older adults. Nevertheless, there are a few studies focused on PM training among healthy older adults and these studies did not report the optimal duration of training regarding improving PM performance among older adults. The present study aimed to determine the effective duration for training PM performance among healthy older adults. The current study was a randomized, controlled, single-blind, within-participants crossover trial including a training program with a duration of 12 h. The sample of 25 older adults aged 55 to 74 years recruited from the active members of the University of the Third Age (U3A), Kuala Lumpur/Selangor, their family members, and friends. The study design ensured some participants would receive the training after baseline while others would wait for 6 weeks after the baseline before receiving the training. All participants were evaluated five times: at baseline, 6, 12, 16, and at 24 weeks post-baseline. Moreover, the training program ensured all participants were assessed after each training session. The minimum number of hours to achieve training effects for this multi-component training program was eight. Results supported the efficacy of the training program in improving PM performance among healthy older adults. Also, the optimal duration for the multicomponent training program on PM performance among healthy older adults was obtained. This trial is registered at isrctn.com (#ISRCTN57600070).
Highlights
Improving life expectancy and the age-related cognitive changes encourage researchers to develop new training approaches to promote healthy aging, independent living and prevent cognitive declines in older adults [1, 2]
All measurements used in this study showed high reliability and validity in clinical or older adults’ populations and they are as follows: (i) Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS): a 30-item self-reported questionnaire used to measure the depression level among participants [35], (ii) Geriatric Anxiety Scale (GAS): a 30-item self-reported scale used to assess anxiety symptoms among older adults [36], (iii) Instrumental Activities of Daily living Scale (IADL): a measurement used to evaluate daily living activities [37], (iv) Prospective and Retrospective Memory Questionnaire (PRMQ): a 16-item questionnaire to assess the subjective retrospective (RM) and PM performance [38], and (v) Prospective Memory Tasks; a computerized program which was adapted from a similar program used in other similar studies to assess the objective PM performance [39]
The groups did not show any significant differences in regard to their demographics and Primary outcome measures of the current article were PM functions measured with VW
Summary
Improving life expectancy and the age-related cognitive changes encourage researchers to develop new training approaches to promote healthy aging, independent living and prevent cognitive declines in older adults [1, 2]. Despite great benefits of strategy- or process-based trainings as independent approaches, to accomplish optimal results, there is an urgent need to use a combination of these two approaches (i.e., multi-component) across a greater range of cognitive functions among healthy older adults’ population [5,6,7,8]. PM is involved in remembering to perform an intended action in future [9] It is the memory for daily living tasks, including self-care (e.g., medication adherence), grocery shopping, cooking, and keeping appointments. It is significant to maintain and promote PM performance among older adults
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