Abstract
Objective
Cognitive function impairments and depressive symptoms are common in elderly people
with dementia. Previous meta-analyses of outdated and small-scale studies have reported
inconsistent results regarding the effects of reminiscence therapy on cognitive functions
and depressive symptoms; therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis by including more
recent randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with large sample sizes to investigate
the immediate and long-term (6–10 months) effects of reminiscence therapy on cognitive
functions and depressive symptoms in elderly people with dementia.
Review Methods
Electronic databases, including PubMed, Medline, CINAHL, PsycINFO, the Cochrane Central
Register of Controlled Trials, ProQuest, Google Scholar, and Chinese databases were
searched to select eligible articles. Primary outcome measures included the scores
of cognitive functions and depressive symptoms. In total, 12 RCT studies investigating
the effects of reminiscence therapy on cognitive functions and depressive symptoms
in elderly people with dementia were included. Two reviewers independently extracted
data. All analyses were performed using a random-effects model.
Results
Reminiscence therapy had a small-size effect on cognitive functions (g = 0.18, 95%
confidence interval [CI] 0.05–0.30) and a moderate-size effect on depressive symptoms
(g = −0.49, 95% CI −0.70 to −0.28) in elderly people with dementia. Long-term effects
of reminiscence therapy on cognitive functions and depressive symptoms were not confirmed.
Moderator analysis revealed that institutionalized elderly people with dementia exhibited
greater improvement in depressive symptoms than community-dwelling people with dementia
did (g = −0.59 vs. −0.16, P = .003).
Conclusions
This meta-analysis confirms that reminiscence therapy is effective in improving cognitive
functions and depressive symptoms in elderly people with dementia. Our findings suggest
that regular reminiscence therapy should be considered for inclusion as routine care
for the improvement of cognitive functions and depressive symptoms in elderly people
with dementia, particularly in institutionalized residents with dementia.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: September 01, 2015
Footnotes
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Identification
Copyright
© 2015 AMDA – The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
