Multicomponent intervention combining a cognitive stimulation group and tai chi to reduce cognitive decline among community-dwelling older adults with probable dementia: A multi-center, randomized controlled trial
Objective This research study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a multicomponent intervention that combines a cognitive stimulation group and tai chi to reduce cognitive decline among community-dwelling Chinese older adults with probable dementia. Methods A multi-center, randomized controlled trial design was adopted in this study. In addition to treat as usual, the treatment group ( n = 41) participated in a structured cognitive stimulation group followed by tai chi twice a week, with a total of 14 sessions held during the study period. The control group ( n = 39) received treat as usual. Mattis Dementia Rating Scale and Mini-Mental State Examination were used for assessing the cognitive abilities of participants in the pre- and post-treatment periods. Results A 2 × 2 repeated measures analysis of covariance demonstrated that the treatment group was more effective than the control group on improving Dementia Rating Scale score ( F = 7.45, p < .01) with a moderate effect size (partial eta square = .09) and Mini-Mental State Examination score ( F = 9.96, p < .01) with a moderate to large effect size (partial eta square = .12) after controlling for age, gender, educational level, marital status, and number of physical illnesses. Conclusion The present study demonstrates the effectiveness of the multicomponent intervention on improving cognitive ability among community-dwelling older adults with probable dementia, suggesting that the multicomponent intervention can facilitate early identification, assessment, and treatment for community-dwelling older adults with probable dementia.