Effect of a 36-Week Supervised Exercise Training Program on Physical and Cognitive Function in Older Patients With Dementia (original) (raw)

Background/Aim: To investigate the effects of an exercise training program on physical and cognitive function in older patients with dementia. Patients and Methods: Thirtyeight patients with early-middle dementia (31 females and seven males), aged 80.6±6.9 years, residents in an Elderly Care Unit, either completed a 36-week structured exercise program (Intervention Group, IG; n=19), or received the usual medical care (Control Group, CG; n=19). Before and after the 36-week intervention, cognitive function was evaluated in both groups by Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and depression by Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS); physical function was assessed using handgrip test, Timed Up to Go (TUG), Berg Balance Scale (BBS) and Chair-Stand Test (CST), and daily living functionality by Functional Rating Scale for Symptoms of Dementia (FRSSD). Results: As a result of exercise intervention, participants scored better in all functional and cognitive test assessments compared to the control group, as reflected by absolute and relative (%) differences in all metrics after the 36-week exercise program (p<0.001). Conclusion: A 36-week supervised exercise training program was found to result in significant improvements in physical and cognitive function of elderly patients in early to middle stages of dementia at an Elderly Care Unit. The promising results of this study shed more light on the adaptability of elderly patients with early and mild dementia to long-term exercise training and verified the feasibility of applying such programs in this clinical population. As the population ages, health and social care services will come under pressure to serve elderly people with a wide range of chronic diseases that are accompanied by physical and cognitive impairment, including older adults with dementia. Dementia is a syndrome, commonly of a chronic or progressive nature, that leads to deterioration in cognitive function (i.e., the ability to process thought) beyond what might be expected due to the usual consequences of biological aging. It affects memory, thinking, orientation, comprehension, calculation, learning capacity, language, and judgment, whereas consciousness is not affected (1). The impairment in cognitive function is commonly accompanied by and occasionally precedes the changes in mood, emotional control, behavior, or motivation (2, 3). Although age is the strongest known risk factor for dementia, it is not an inevitable consequence of aging. Further, dementia does not affect exclusively older people as young-onset dementia (defined as the onset of symptoms before the age of 65 years) accounts for up to 9% of cases (4, 5). Worldwide, around 55 million people have dementia, with over 60% of them living in low-and middle-income 286