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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2021 May 16;18(10):5290.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph18105290.

Virtual Reality-Based Cognitive Stimulation on People with Mild to Moderate Dementia due to Alzheimer's Disease: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Jorge Oliveira  1 , Pedro Gamito  1 , Teresa Souto  1 , Rita Conde  1 , Maria Ferreira  1 , Tatiana Corotnean  2 , Adriano Fernandes  3 , Henrique Silva  3 , Teresa Neto  3
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Virtual Reality-Based Cognitive Stimulation on People with Mild to Moderate Dementia due to Alzheimer's Disease: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Jorge Oliveira et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

The use of ecologically oriented approaches with virtual reality (VR) depicting instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) is a promising approach for interventions on acquired brain injuries. However, the results of such an approach on dementia caused by Alzheimer's disease (AD) are still lacking. This research reports on a pilot randomized controlled trial that aimed to explore the effect of a cognitive stimulation reproducing several IADL in VR on people with mild-to-moderate dementia caused by AD. Patients were recruited from residential care homes of Santa Casa da Misericórdia da Amadora (SCMA), which is a relevant nonprofit social and healthcare provider in Portugal. This intervention lasted two months, with a total of 10 sessions (two sessions/week). A neuropsychological assessment was carried out at the baseline and follow-up using established neuropsychological instruments for assessing memory, attention, and executive functions. The sample consisted of 17 patients of both genders randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. The preliminary results suggested an improvement in overall cognitive function in the experimental group, with an effect size corresponding to a large effect in global cognition, which suggests that this approach is effective for neurocognitive stimulation in older adults with dementia, contributing to maintaining cognitive function in AD.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; aging; computerized cognitive stimulation; dementia; ecological validity; virtual reality.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Examples of the tasks used in the Systemic Lisbon Battery
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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