Rhythmic Musical Intervention Improves Short‐term Memory Function in Healthy Elderly: A Prospective Pilot Study of a Group‐based African Drum Training

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundMemory complaints are the early symptoms of cognitive impairment, and it usually brings anxiety about cognitive deterioration among the elderly population. Musical interventions were demonstrated to relieve dementia symptoms1. This study is to investigate the potential benefits of African drum intervention on cognitive functions.MethodParticipants were recruited in July 2022 through social media advertisement. Classes were organized in a drumming activity center in downtown, Kowloon. Participants joined 8 sessions of African drum training which covered rhythmic clapping and drumming, power control, and overall performance with songs. The inclusion criteria were participants (1) aged over 50 years old and (2) able to use a smartphone. Participants who could not understand Chinese or had been diagnosed with active psychosis or dementia were excluded. Cognitive function was screened by an online platform, ScreenMat2, for short‐term and long‐term memory, orientation, calculation, visual function, and followed up with the Hong Kong version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (HK‐MoCA). Anxiety and depression levels were assessed by State‐Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). All assessments were performed before and after the drumming classes (Figure 1). The outcomes were evaluated using Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test with 0.05 as the significance level.ResultTwenty‐four participants joined this study with an attendance rate of 83%. The overall cognitive function of the participants was good with an average score of 27 for HK‐MoCA. After 8 sessions of African drum intervention, the cognitive function did not show significant improvement (p = 0.108), but the response time of answering the digital cognitive questions was significantly faster than that before the intervention (‐39.9 seconds, p = 0.03) (Table 1). The response time for the short‐term memory function was the most significantly reduced better after the African drum training (‐13.5 seconds, p = 0.005) The STAI and GDS scores also significantly decreased (p<0.001).ConclusionRhythmic Musical Intervention, such as the African drum, can improve the response time of cognitive tests and also relieve anxiety and depression levels.1. Tsoi et al. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2018;19(7), 568‐576. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2017.12.0092. Lam et al. In Proceedings of the 51st HICSS. 2018. doi:10.24251/HICSS.2018.353