Multicomponent intervention combining a cognitive stimulation group and tai chi to reduce cognitive decline among community-dwelling older adults with probable dementia: A multi-center, randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Objective: This research study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a multicomponent intervention that combines a cognitive stimulation group and tai chi to reduce cognitive decline among community-dwelling Chinese older adults with probable dementia.

Methods: A multi-center, randomized controlled trial design was adopted in this study. In addition to treat as usual, the treatment group (n = 41) participated in a structured cognitive stimulation group followed by tai chi twice a week, with a total of 14 sessions held during the study period. The control group (n = 39) received treat as usual. Mattis Dementia Rating Scale and Mini-Mental State Examination were used for assessing the cognitive abilities of participants in the pre- and post-treatment periods.

Results: A 2 × 2 repeated measures analysis of covariance demonstrated that the treatment group was more effective than the control group on improving Dementia Rating Scale score (F = 7.45, p < .01) with a moderate effect size (partial eta square = .09) and Mini-Mental State Examination score (F = 9.96, p < .01) with a moderate to large effect size (partial eta square = .12) after controlling for age, gender, educational level, marital status, and number of physical illnesses.

Conclusion: The present study demonstrates the effectiveness of the multicomponent intervention on improving cognitive ability among community-dwelling older adults with probable dementia, suggesting that the multicomponent intervention can facilitate early identification, assessment, and treatment for community-dwelling older adults with probable dementia.

Keywords: cognitive stimulation therapy; multicomponent intervention; probable dementia; randomized controlled trial; tai chi.