Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Mar 30:14:1139700.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1139700. eCollection 2023.

Effects of reminiscence therapy on psychological outcome among older adults without obvious cognitive impairment: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Lijun Xu  1 , Shasha Li  1 , Renfu Yan  2 , Yingyuan Ni  1 , Yuecong Wang  1 , Yue Li  1
Affiliations

Effects of reminiscence therapy on psychological outcome among older adults without obvious cognitive impairment: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Lijun Xu et al. Front Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Introduction: Reminiscence therapy has been a high-benefit and low-cost measure of psychosocial intervention for older adults in recent years. It has attracted much attention in the intervention study of older adults without obvious cognitive impairment. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of reminiscence therapy on psychosocial outcomes among older adults without obvious cognitive impairment and analyze the divergences of different intervention programs (form, duration, and setting) on outcomes.

Methods: We searched the commonly used databases and used RevMan 5.4 in the meta-analysis (PROSPERO-ID: CRD42022315237). All eligible trials used the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool and the Effective Public Health Practice Project quality assessment tool to identify the quality and determine the bias risk grade.

Results: Twenty-seven studies were included, involving 1,755 older adults. Meta-analysis showed that reminiscence therapy has a significant effect on both depression and life satisfaction. Group reminiscence played a significant role in improving life satisfaction. Depression symptoms were not affected by the intervention duration (P = 0.06), while life satisfaction was significantly improved after more than 8 weeks of intervention (P < 0.00001). Intervention settings drove differences in depressive symptoms (P = 0.02), and the effect size of the community was larger.

Conclusion: Reminiscence therapy can significantly reduce depressive symptoms and improve life satisfaction. There are different effects of reminiscence therapy in different intervention schemes on psychological outcomes among older adults. More well-designed trials with large sample sizes and long-term follow-ups are necessary to confirm and expand the present results.

Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=315237, identifier: CRD42022315237.

Keywords: depression; life satisfaction; meta-analysis; older adults; psychosocial outcomes; reminiscence therapy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA diagram summarizing the records retrieval and workflow.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Risk of bias graph of RCTs.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Effect size of the reminiscence therapy group vs. the control group on depression rating scores.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Effect size of the reminiscence therapy group vs. the control group on life satisfaction rating scores.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Funnel plot of the included studies on depression.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. United Nations Department Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division . World Population Prospects 2019: Highlights. (2019). Available online at: https://population.un.org/wpp/Publications/Files/WPP2019_Highlights.pdf (accessed October 1, 2022).
    1. Rudnicka E, Napierała P, Podfigurna A, Meczekalski B, Smolarczyk R, Grymowicz M, et al. . The World Health Organization (WHO) approach to healthy ageing. Maturitas. (2020) 139:6–11. 10.1016/j.maturitas.05,018. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Sánchez-González D, Rojo-Pérez F, Rodríguez-Rodríguez V, Fernández-Mayoralas G. Environmental and psychosocial interventions in age-friendly communities and active ageing: a systematic review. Int J Environ Res Public Health. (2020) 17:8305. 10.3390/ijerph17228305 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Nelson CJ, Saracino RM, Roth AJ, Harvey E, Martin A, Moore M, et al. . Cancer and aging: reflections for elders (CARE): a pilot randomized controlled trial of a psychotherapy intervention for older adults with cancer. Psychooncology. (2019) 28:39–47. 10.1002/pon.4907 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Li A, Liu Y. Reminiscence therapy serves as an optional nursing care strategy in attenuating cognitive impairment, anxiety, and depression in acute ischemic stroke patients. Ir J Med Sci. (2022) 191:877–84. 10.1007/s11845-021-02600-8 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources