Multicenter randomized controlled trial of the effects of individual reminiscence therapy on cognition, depression and quality of life: Analysis of a sample of older adults with Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia

Abstract

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of a 13-week individual reminiscence therapy (RT) intervention on cognition, memory, executive function, mood, and quality of life of people with Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia. Method: Non-protocolized analysis using data from a larger multicenter, single-blind, randomized, parallel two-arm RCT of RT for people with neurocognitive disorders. A sample of 148 people with probable Alzheimer’s disease or vascular dementia attending 23 Portuguese institutions providing care and support services for older adults were selected. Intervention group (n = 74) received 26 individual RT sessions, twice a week for 13 weeks. Control group (n = 74) maintained their treatment as usual. Outcomes were global cognitive function (MMSE), memory (MAT), executive function (FAB), mood (GDS-15), and self-reported quality of life (QoL-AD). All participants were assessed at baseline (T0) and 15 weeks later (T1). Results: The results showed a significant effect of the intervention on global cognition (Group X Time interaction F(1, 128) = 10.542, p = .001, η_p² = .076), memory (F(1,128) = 9.881, p = .002, η_p² = .072), and quality of life (F(1,128) = 0.181, p = .671, η_p² = .001), with medium effect sizes. A small effect on executive function (F(1,127) = 11.118, p = .001, η_p² = .080) was also found. No effects were found on depressive symptoms (F(1,128) = 0.181, p = .671, η_p² = .001). Conclusion: Individual RT may have beneficial effects on cognition and quality of life of people with Alzheimer’s disease or vascular dementia.

Keywords:

• Individual therapy
• Alzheimer’s disease
• vascular dementia
• reminiscence therapy
• randomized controlled trial

Acknowledgements

The research sites and the researchers involved were: Aparsin (Marta Abreu, Natália Carralo); Assoc. Alzheimer Portugal (Bárbara Coutinho, Filipa Gomes, Joana Florêncio); Assoc. de Solidariedade Social de S. Tiago de Rebordões (Ana Rita Fernandes, Maria João Azevedo); Cediara (Ana Elisa Castro, Ana Rita Teixeira); Centro Social de Tolosa (Ana Salomé Jesus, Paulo Parracho); Centro Social Paroquial de Dornelas (Ana Cristina Santos, Cindy Santos); Centro Social Paroquial de Recarei (Ana Isa Sousa, Ana Soraia Mendes); Centro Social Vale do Homem (Alberta Duarte, Sandra Cerqueira); Centro Zulmira Pereira Simões (Angelina Senra, Débora Fernandes); Delicate Age (Ana Luísa Vicente, Rita Marranita); Irmãs Hospitaleiras (Cátia Gameiro, Marta Dábrio, Sofia Rosado); Lar D. Pedro V (Carmen Gonçalves, Salomé Vasconcelos); Pesqueiramiga (Elsa Matias, Sara Pires); Primavida (Inês Rebelo, Sónia Carvalho); Replicar Socialform (Joana Ribeiro, Rui Maia); Misericórdia de Alcobaça (Ivone António, Tânia Miguel); Misericórdia de Almada (Ana Cristina Coelho, Sónia Andrade); Misericórdia de Castelo Branco (Sofia Fernandes, Vítor Reis); Misericórdia de Coruche (Ana Ferreira, Rita Filipe); Misericórdia de Melgaço (Alexandrina Rodrigues, Diana Domingues); Misericórdia de Ovar (Daniela Martins, Márcia Barbosa); Misericórdia de Vila Velha de Ródão (Marta Pinto, Patrícia Cesário); Misericórdia de Vila Verde (Branca Pimentel, Patrícia Ferreira); Misericórdia de Vouzela (Daniela Tojal, Rui Dionísio); Misericórdia do Alvorge (Maria Solange Santos, Sílvia Lopes). Technical and scientific support: Alzheimer Portugal, CREA - Centro de Referencia Estatal de Atención a Personas con Enfermedad de Alzheimer y otras Demencias del Imserso en Salamanca, International Neuropsychological Society, Professor Mary Beth Spitznagel, Professor Anthony H. Risser. Ethics committee: Unidade Investigação em Ciências da Saúde: Enfermagem (UICISA: E) da Escola Superior de Enfermagem de Coimbra (ESEnfC).

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

Ethical approval

The Health Sciences Research Unit: Nursing, Nursing School of Coimbra (Portugal) (Code number: 599/06-2019).

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Trial protocol

Clinicaltrials.gov ID: NCT04047238; Multicentre Study About the Effect of Individual Reminiscence Therapy.

Table 5. MAT subtests. Results of repeated measures ANOVA.