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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Improved quality of life and cognitive stimulation therapy in dementia | | Author(s) | B Woods, L Thorgrimsen, A Spector |
| Journal title | Aging & Mental Health, vol 10, no 3, May 2006 |
| Pages | pp 219-226 |
| Source | http://www.tandfonline.com |
| Keywords | Quality of life ; Dementia ; Therapy ; Psychiatric treatment ; Clinical surveys ; London ; Essex ; Hertfordshire. |
| Annotation | Quality of life (QoL) is now seen as a key outcome to many aspects of dementia care. In a recent randomised controlled trial of Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (CST) groups, significant improvements in self-reported QoL were identified as well as changes in cognitive function. This further analysis of results from the trial examines whether the changes in these two domains occurred independently, perhaps for different reasons, or whether the effect of treatment on QoL was mediated by the changes in cognition. In all, 201 people with dementia living in residential homes or attending day centres in London, Hertfordshire and Essex were assessed using the Quality of Life - Alzheimer's Disease (QoL-AD) scale and a range of measures of cognition, dementia level, mood, dependency and communication. Participants were randomised to receive an intervention programme of CST or to receive treatment as usual. The QoL-AD and other measures were repeated 8 weeks later. At baseline, higher QoL in dementia was significantly associated with lower level of dependency and depression, but not with cognitive function or dementia severity. Improvement in QoL was associated with being female, low QoL at baseline, reduced depression and increased cognitive function. Changes in cognitive function mediated the effects of treatment in improved QoL. These results suggest that whilst QoL in dementia appears to be independent of level of cognitive function, interventions aimed at improving cognitive function can, nonetheless, have a direct effect on QoL. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-061027002 A |
| Classmark | F:59: EA: LO: LP: 3G: 82L: 8ES: 8HT |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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