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Cognitive stimulation therapy (CST) for people with dementia--who benefits most
International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 05/11/2012
Clinical Article
Aguirre E et al. – The results demonstrate that cognitive stimulation therapy (CST) improves cognition and quality of life for people with dementia including those already on cholinesterase inhibitors. Older age and being female were associated with increased cognitive benefits from the intervention. Consideration should be given to aspects of CST, which may enhance the benefits for people with dementia who are male and those younger than 80 years.
Methods- Two hundred and seventy-two participants with dementia took part in a 7-week CST intervention.
- Assessments were carried out pre-treatment and post-treatment.
- The results were compared with those of a previous comparable CST randomised control trial.
- A comparison of mean scores pre-CST and post-CST groups was undertaken, and contributing factors that predicted change in outcomes were examined.
- CST improved cognition and quality of life, and the results showed that the benefits of CST were independent of whether people were taking acetylcholinesteraseinhibitor (AChEI) medication.
- Increasing age was associated with cognitive benefits, as was female gender.
- Care home residents improved more than community residents on quality of life, but the community sample seemed to benefit more in relation to behaviour problems.