Cognitive Intervention in Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment and Early Alzheimer’s Disease

초록

Background & Objectives: The effect of cognitive intervention is inconclusive in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The aim was to evaluate the feasibility and effect of cognitive intervention in patients with MCI and early AD. Methods: Seven patients with amnestic MCI and four AD patients with Global Deterioration Scale 4 were participated in one hour session once or twice per week for 18 total sessions. The cognitive intervention program consisted of orientation, computer-assisted attentional training, teaching episodic memory strategies, face-name association, and simulation of activities of daily living. The neuropsychological tests, Quality of Life in AD (QOL-AD), and satisfaction questionnaire were administered at the baseline, within 2 weeks of post-intervention, and 3 months later. Results: Significant pre-post effects were found in delayed recall of Seoul Verbal Learning Test (SVLT, 2.21.9 vs. 4.51.4, p=0.042), and immediate (11.38.4 vs. 15.88.4, p=0.028) and delayed recall (11.78.5 vs. 16.18.0, p=0.046) of Rey figure in patients with MCI. Pre-post effects of MMSE (19.31.2 vs. 23.02.0, p=0.10) and phonemic fluency (1.01.0 vs. 4.31.5, p=0.11) showed a borderline significance in patients with AD. Pre-post significant effects of delayed recall of SVLT and color reading of Stroop test were detected in patient with MCI three months after training. Satisfaction score on the intervention was higher in patients with MCI compared with AD patients (32.74.0 vs. 29.33.5 of 40), but it doesn’t reach the significance. Conclusion: A systematic program of cognitive intervention may be more effective in MCI compared with AD.