The effects of cognitive training on mild-to-moderate Alzheimer＇s disease patients

Abstract

Objective To determine the efficacy of individual cognitive training （CT） in the treatment of cognitive and neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer disease （ AD）. Methods A randomized, controlled, rater-blind clinical trial recruited 32 AD patients. AH patients were assigned to a CT group （n = 16） or a control group （a time and attention control, n = 16） for 10 weeks. All outcome measures were administered at baseline and follow-up. The cognitive status was evaluated using the Mini Mental State examination （MMSE） , a clock-drawing test （CDT） , Fuld＇s object memory evaluation （FOME） , a rapid verbal retrieval （RVR） , digit span assessments （DS） , block designing （BD）, and the A version of the trail making test （TMTA）. The patients＇ functional status was evaluated using an activities of daily living （ADL） scale. Any psychological and behavioural disorders were evaluated with the Neuropsychiatry Inventory （ NPI）. Results Patients receiving CT showed greater average improvements in NPI total score, TMT-A score and MMSE total score than the controis at week 10. There was no statistically significant benefit for CT-treated patients in terms of ADL score. Conclusions Cognitive training can raise the NPI total scores and MMSE total scores of patients with mild to moderate AD. Key words: Alzheimer＇s disease; Cognitive training; Randomized controlled trials