Effects of interdisciplinary team intervention on cognitive function and activity of daily living of Alzheimer's disease patients

Abstract

Objective To explore effects of multidisciplinary team intervention in Alzheimer's disease patients and provide the basis for nursing of Alzheimer's patients. Methods A total of 125 patients with Alzheimer's disease in Hangzhou pension institutions from March to October 2015 were randomly divided into the control group and the observation group. There were 62 cases in the control group and 63 cases in the observation group. The control group was provided with the conventional model of nursing in the nursing home, and the observation group was cared by the multidisciplinary team. Mini mental state examination (MMSE) and activities of daily living assessment scale (ADL) were used to assess and observe the incidence of behavioral and psychological symptoms before and after the intervention. The observation lasted for six months with one evaluation every three months. Results Before the intervention, there were no statistical differences in scores of MMSE and ADL between two groups (P=0.865, 0.183) . After six months' intervention, scores of MMSE and ADL were significantly improved in both groups (P<0.05) ; the differences between two groups as well as between two time points were statistically significant (Fgroup=7.128, 4.213, P=0.009, 0.045; Ftime=9.519, 9.913, P=0.001, 0.001; Finteraction=16.76, 271.047, P<0.001) ; the interval value increased over time. The number of cases with behavioral and psychological symptoms in the observation group was significantly less than that in the control group (P<0.05) . Conclusions Multidisciplinary team nursing model can effectively improve cognitive function and activity of daily living of Alzheimer's disease patients. Key words: Alzheimer's disease; Cognition; Activities of daily living; Multidisciplinary team care