Biomedical Research

The short and long term effectiveness of integrative cognitive training for the healthy elderly in Chinese community was evaluated. Methods: Residents aged ≥70 years were enrolled from a subdistrict in Shanghai and 151 healthy residents who met the inclusion criteria were recruited into the present study whom were divided into cognitive intervention group (n=90) and control group (n=61). All individuals were assessed with the Neuropsychological Test Battery for Elderly (NTBE), stroop color-word test and a questionnaire “Shanghai Health Survey for the Elderly (VER2006)” at baseline, and immediately, half a year, one year after intervention. The interventions (include reasoning, memory, etc) were conducted for 24 sessions over 12 weeks. 1) Baseline: There were no significant differences in the neuropsychological scores between intervention group and control group except for the scores in two subscales. 2) Follow up: Functions in many subscales of NTBE and Stroop color-word test were significantly improved and those in the intervention group were higher than in control group immediately and one year after intervention. The integrative cognitive training can improve and /or delay the degeneration of cognitive function of the elderly in the community, and the effectiveness of cognitive training may last for at least one year, especially in the reasoning ability.

Author(s): Wei Feng, Chun-bo Li, You Chen, Yan Cheng, Wen-yuan Wu
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