Improvement of Planning Abilities in Adults with Prader-Willi Syndrome: A Randomized Controlled Trial

ABSTRACT

Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) is a neurodevelopmental genetic disorder with executive deficits. Planning is one of the impaired executive functions implied in the regulation of behavior and everyday actions. We aimed to explore the feasibility and the effectiveness of a metacognitive strategy training designed to improve planning in adults with PWS using a double-blind between-group (training versus usual care) randomized controlled trial, with computerized tests and paper-pencil ecological outcome measures targeting planning, other executive functions, and achievement of personalized goal. Results showed better performances in several executive tasks and in achievement of personalized goals after both interventions, but better improvement for the experimental group (n = 27) compared to control (n = 26) only on the task assessing planning abilities. Interviews with occupational therapists demonstrated the feasibility of this training with this population. Despite a small number of sessions, the metacognitive strategy training showed encouraging results on planning abilities of patients.

KEYWORDS:

• Cognitive rehabilitation
• executive functions
• intellectual disability
• metacognitive strategy training
• planning
• prader-willi syndrome

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank all the participants of this study and the rehabilitation staff at Hôpital Marin d’Hendaye for their implication.

Disclosure Statement

The authors report no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This study is funded by a 3-year PhD scholarship from the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research. We would like to thank the Prader-Willi Association France for financial support for travel expenses linked to the protocol.