The effect of brain exercise for improving cognitive function among cognitively impaired batik workers: A preliminary study in Indonesia

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundBrain exercise, also known as Brain Gym, aims to maintain brain health by exercising. The movements in brain exercise are focused to train contralateral and ipsilateral coordination, namely by doing hand and foot movements on different sides and the same side alternately. Brain exercise can restore the reticular activating system in the brain so that it can improve memory abilities. This study aimed to identify the effect of brain exercise for improving cognitive function among batik workers who had cognitiveMethodThis study was one group pretest and posttest design. We conducted brain exercise on 47 batik workers with cognitive impairment who were chronically exposed to heavy metals in 2 batik centers in Gulurejo Village, Lendah, Kulonprogo, Indonesia. Subjects were examined for cognitive function before treatment using MoCA‐INA (Montreal Cognitive Assessment‐Indonesia version). The treatment of brain exercise was done 2 times a week for 3 months, with duration of exercise was 10 minutes. The cognitive function of the research subjects was re‐examined after 1 and 3 months of brain exercise.ResultThe mean age of the subject was 44 years‐old, with the median duration of being batik worker was 4 years (1‐15 years). The mean MoCA‐Ina score before treatment was 19.21 ± 4.86. After 1 month of treatment, there was an increase of MoCA‐INA score to 19.91 ± 4.81. After 3 months of treatment, the MoCA‐INA score futher increased to 22.45 ± 4.74. When further analyzed for each domain, we found that there were no differences after 1 month. However, there was a significant increase in the domains of attention (p = 0.004), language (p = 0.002), abstraction (p = 0.10), delayed recall (p < 0.001) and orientation (p = 0.001) after 3 months exercise.ConclusionBrain exercise may benefit for improving cognitive function among batik workers with cognitive impairment. This study could potentially be applied for other population with dementia to help improving the clinical outcome.