Abstract

Objective: The majority of elderly have deficits in Prospective Memory (PM) which are associated with difficulties in activities of daily living (ADL). Until today, only a few studies of prospective memory training have seemed to improve the cognitive functions, nevertheless this benefit has not been transferred to ADL. The aim of this study was the enhancement of executive functions, the generalization of training to other cognitive domains and the transference of these benefits to ADL.

Methods: From 156 patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) who were examined at our Neurological Department and our day center, 102 people were randomly classified in one experimental Prospective Memory Group (PM/G) and one Control Group (C/G), matched in age, gender, education, cognitive and functional status. Sixty-two out of them completed the study. The PM/G (n = 33) attended 48 one-hour sessions of PM training, twice a week for 6 months whereas the C/G (n = 29) did not participate at any intervention and were in a waiting list. Neuropsychological assessment including a test for PM was performed at baseline and after the end of the intervention.

Results: At the follow up, the PM/G outperformed the C/G in working memory (p < 0.05), in verbal fluency (p < 0.05), and in ADL (p < 0.05). At the end of the training the PM/G improved verbal memory (p < 0.05), verbal fluency (p < 0.05) and ADL (p < 0.05). The C/G showed deterioration in verbal fluency (p < 0.05) whilst remained at the same performance level of ADL.

Conclusion: The PM intervention via the utilization of the decided tool, didn’t succeed in improving PM, however it helped participants to improve executive functions, verbal memory and ADL.

Keywords: Prospective Memory; Cognitive Training; Cognitive Intervention

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Citation

Citation: Eleni Poptsi., et al. “Is it Possible the Training of Prospective Memory to Enhance Activities of Daily Living and Executive Function in People with Mild Cognitive Impairment? A Single-blind Randomized Controlled Trial". Acta Scientific Medical Sciences 4.10 (2020): 102-113.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2020 Eleni Poptsi., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.