Effect of physical activity on cognition and daily living activities of the elderly with mild dementia.
Hyun Jin Lee, Kyoung Don Kim
PMID 29581665WHAT IT FOUND
Adding 30-minute strength and balance exercises to cognitive training improved cognition and daily function more than cognitive training alone in 60 older adults with mild dementia.
Both groups also received cognitive training.
Key findings
01The experimental group, which received cognitive training plus physical activity, increased total LOTCA-G by 7.83 points, compared with 2.40 points in the control group, which received cognitive training only.
02The experimental group increased total FIM by 7.23 points, compared with 1.30 points in the control group, with higher scores meaning more independent daily living.
03Both groups received the same occupational-therapist-led cognitive training, and both showed significant improvement on total LOTCA-G and total FIM, so the study does not test physical activity alone.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study included only 60 participants, and the authors state that the results cannot be generalized to all patients with mild dementia. The intervention was followed only for eight weeks, and the authors did not verify whether the effects persisted after the program ended. Participants had to be able to walk independently and have no hearing or vision problems, so the results may not apply to people with more severe dementia or sensory impairments. Both groups received cognitive training, so the study tests adding physical activity to cognitive training, not physical activity alone. The study was done in one day care centre and compared two active groups, so it cannot show that either program caused improvement compared with no treatment.
Declared interests
This work was supported by the 2017 Kyungwoon University Research Grant. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that physical activity alone improves cognition or daily living. Both groups received occupational-therapist-led cognitive training, and the study only compared adding physiotherapist-led exercises to that training.