BACKGROUND & AIMS:
:The aim of the present report was to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of multisensory and cognitive stimulation on improving cognition in elderly persons living in long-term-care institutions (institutionalized [I]) or in communities with their families (noninstitutionalized [NI]). We compared neuropsychological performance using language and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) test scores before and after 24 and 48 stimulation sessions. The two groups were matched by age and years of schooling. Small groups of ten or fewer volunteers underwent the stimulation program, twice a week, over 6 months (48 sessions in total). Sessions were based on language and memory exercises, as well as visual, olfactory, auditory, and ludic stimulation, including music, singing, and dance. Both groups were assessed at the beginning (before stimulation), in the middle (after 24 sessions), and at the end (after 48 sessions) of the stimulation program. Although the NI group showed higher performance in all tasks in all time windows compared with I subjects, both groups improved their performance after stimulation. In addition, the improvement was significantly higher in the I group than the NI group. Language tests seem to be more efficient than the MMSE to detect early changes in cognitive status. The results suggest the impoverished environment of long-term-care institutions may contribute to lower cognitive scores before stimulation and the higher improvement rate of this group after stimulation. In conclusion, language tests should be routinely adopted in the neuropsychological assessment of elderly subjects, and long-term-care institutions need to include regular sensorimotor, social, and cognitive stimulation as a public health policy for elderly persons.
背景与目标:
: 本报告的目的是评估多感官和认知刺激对改善长期护理机构 (制度化 [I]) 或家庭社区 (非制度化 [NI]) 老年人认知的有效性和影响。我们在24和48次刺激之前和之后使用语言和迷你精神状态检查 (MMSE) 测试分数比较了神经心理表现。两组按年龄和受教育年限进行匹配。由10名或更少的志愿者组成的小组接受了刺激计划,每周两次,超过6个月 (总共48个疗程)。会议基于语言和记忆练习,以及视觉,嗅觉,听觉和音乐刺激,包括音乐,唱歌和舞蹈。两组均在刺激计划的开始 (刺激前),中间 (24个疗程后) 和结束 (48个疗程后) 进行评估。尽管与I受试者相比,NI组在所有时间窗口的所有任务中均显示出更高的性能,但两组在刺激后均提高了性能。此外,I组的改善明显高于NI组。语言测试似乎比MMSE更有效地检测认知状态的早期变化。结果表明,长期护理机构的贫困环境可能会导致刺激前较低的认知评分和刺激后较高的改善率。总之,语言测试应常规用于老年人的神经心理学评估,长期护理机构需要将定期的感觉运动,社交和认知刺激作为老年人的公共卫生政策。