Kamegaya Tadahiko, Araki Yumi, Kigure Hanami, Yamaguchi Haruyasu
Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Gunma University Graduate School of Health Science, Maebashi, Japan.
Psychogeriatrics. 2014 Mar;14(1):47-54. doi: 10.1111/psyg.12038. Epub 2014 Feb 16.
Japan is one of the most rapidly ageing societies in the world. A number of municipalities have started services for the prevention of cognitive decline for community-dwelling elderly individuals, but the effectiveness of these services is currently insufficient. Our study explored the efficacy of a comprehensive intervention programme consisting of physical and leisure activities to prevent cognitive decline in community-dwelling elderly subjects.
We administered a 12-week intervention programme consisting of physical and leisure activities aimed at enhancing participants' motivation to participate and support one another by providing a pleasant atmosphere, empathetic communication, praise, and errorless support. This programme for the prevention of cognitive decline was conducted as a service by the city of Maebashi. All participants underwent the Five-Cog test, which evaluated the cognitive domains of attention, memory, visuospatial function, language, and reasoning. Executive function was evaluated by the Wechsler Digit Symbol Substitution Test and Yamaguchi Kanji-Symbol Substitution Test. Subjective health status, level of social support, functional capacity, subjective quality of life, and depressive symptoms were assessed with a questionnaire. Grip strength test, timed up-and-go test, 5-m maximum walking times test, and functional reach test were performed to evaluate physical function. Fifty-two participants were randomly allocated to intervention (n = 26) and control (n = 26) groups. Twenty-six participants, aged between 65-87 years, received intervention once a week at a community centre. The programme was conducted by health-care professionals, with the help of senior citizen volunteers.
The intervention group (n = 19) showed significant improvement on the analogy task of the Five-Cog test (F(1,38) = 4.242, P = 0.046) and improved quality of life (F(1,38) = 4.773, P = 0.035) as compared to the control group (n = 24).
A community-based 12-week intervention programme that aimed to enhance motivation to participate in activities resulted in improvements in some aspects of cognitive function and quality of life. Senior citizens who volunteered in the present intervention enabled the smooth implementation of the programme and alleviated the burden on professional staff.
日本是世界上老龄化速度最快的社会之一。许多市政当局已开始为社区居住的老年人提供预防认知能力下降的服务，但目前这些服务的效果并不理想。我们的研究探讨了一项由体育和休闲活动组成的综合干预计划对预防社区居住老年受试者认知能力下降的效果。
我们实施了一项为期12周的干预计划，该计划包括体育和休闲活动，旨在通过营造愉快的氛围、进行共情沟通、给予赞扬和无误支持来增强参与者的参与积极性并相互支持。这项预防认知能力下降的计划由前桥市作为一项服务来开展。所有参与者都接受了五项认知测试，该测试评估了注意力、记忆力、视觉空间功能、语言和推理等认知领域。执行功能通过韦氏数字符号替换测验和山口汉字符号替换测验进行评估。通过问卷调查评估主观健康状况、社会支持水平、功能能力、主观生活质量和抑郁症状。进行握力测试、定时起立行走测试、5米最大步行时间测试和功能性伸展测试以评估身体功能。52名参与者被随机分配到干预组（n = 26）和对照组（n = 26）。26名年龄在65 - 87岁之间的参与者在社区中心每周接受一次干预。该计划由医护专业人员在老年志愿者的帮助下实施。
与对照组（n = 24）相比，干预组（n = 19）在五项认知测试的类比任务上有显著改善（F(1,38) = 4.242，P = 0.046），生活质量也有所提高（F(1,38) = 4.773，P = 0.035）。
一项旨在增强参与活动积极性的基于社区的12周干预计划在认知功能和生活质量的某些方面取得了改善。在本次干预中志愿参与的老年人使该计划得以顺利实施，并减轻了专业人员的负担。
