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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2020 May;35(5):537-546.
doi: 10.1002/gps.5269. Epub 2020 Feb 14.

Construction and evaluation of multidomain attention training to improve alertness attention, sustained attention, and visual-spatial attention in older adults with mild cognitive impairment: A randomized controlled trial

Hui-Ling Yang  1   2 , Hsin Chu  3   4 , Ching-Chiu Kao  5   6 , Nae-Fang Miao  1 , Pi-Chen Chang  5 , Philip Tseng  7   8   9 , Anthony Paul O'Brien  10 , Kuei-Ru Chou  5   11   12   13
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Construction and evaluation of multidomain attention training to improve alertness attention, sustained attention, and visual-spatial attention in older adults with mild cognitive impairment: A randomized controlled trial

Hui-Ling Yang et al. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2020 May.

Abstract

Objectives: We aimed to analyze the effects of multidomain attention training on alertness, sustained attention, and visual-spatial attention in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Design: The design used in this study was a two-arm, parallel group, double-blind randomized controlled trial.

Setting and participants: The participants of the study were seventy-eight older adults with MCI (mean age: 79.5 ± 7.9 years) from retirement centers and community housing for the elderly.

Intervention: The participants were randomly assigned to an experimental group (multidomain attention training, n = 39) or an active control group (n = 39). Both groups underwent training sessions for 45 minutes three times per week for 6 weeks (18 sessions in total).

Measures: The main efficacy indicator was alertness (Trail Making Test Part B), sustained attention (Digit Vigilance Test), and visual-spatial attention (Trail Making Test Part A). The secondary outcome indicators were other cognitive functions (Mini-Mental State Examination [MMSE] and Montreal Cognitive Assessment [MoCA] subscales). Measurements were obtained at pretest, posttest, and 3 and 6 months after training.

Results: The results were analyzed by a generalized estimating equation (GEE), which indicated that attention outcomes (alertness, sustained attention, and visual-spatial attention) of the experimental group did not improve after training. However, the experimental group displayed a significant improvement in the attention, memory, and orientation of MMSE and MoCA subscales over a period of 6 months and also showed superior results compared with the control group.

Conclusions: Multidomain attention training demonstrated improved alertness and visual-spatial attention for posttest after 6 months. We also outline potential future advances in attention training for improving attention in older adults with MCI.

Keywords: alertness; attention training; mild cognitive impairment; randomized controlled trial; sustained attention; visual-spatial attention.

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References

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