Lee Eun Hye, Kim Bori R, Kim Hyungho, Kim Soo Hyun, Chun Min Young, Park Hee Kyung, Park Kee Duk, Jeong Jee Hyang, Kim Geon Ha
Department of Neurology, Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital, Ewha Womans University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Ewha Medical Research Institute, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea.
Dement Neurocogn Disord. 2020 Sep;19(3):96-107. doi: 10.12779/dnd.2020.19.3.96.
Previous studies suggest that cognitive intervention can mitigate the development of dementia in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). However, the previous cognitive intervention was mostly provided as a group session, in which MCI patients sometimes had difficulty in regularly attending sessions or were reluctant to participate in group-based classes. Additionally, experienced instructors for traditional cognitive intervention may be unavailable in some chronic-care facilities or community centers. Considering these reasons, we have developed 5 programs for home-based cognitive intervention using a personal robot for MCI patients. In this preliminary study, we aimed to demonstrate the effects of our newly developed home-based cognitive intervention with robots on cognitive function in MCI patients.
We conducted a single-blind randomized controlled trial enrolling 46 MCI patients. Participants were randomized into 2 groups: the robot cognitive intervention (robot) (=24) group and without cognitive intervention (control) (=22) group. The interventions comprised 60-min sessions per day for 4 weeks. The primary outcome was the change in cognitive function measured using the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery.
There were no significant baseline demographic or clinical differences between the robot and control groups. After the 4-week cognitive intervention, the robot group showed greater improvement in working memory than did the control group.
Our home-based cognitive intervention with a personal robot improved the working memory in MCI patients. Further studies with larger samples and longer study periods are required to demonstrate the effects of these programs in other cognitive domains in MCI patients.
先前的研究表明，认知干预可减轻轻度认知障碍（MCI）患者痴呆症的发展。然而，先前的认知干预大多以小组课程的形式进行，在此过程中，MCI患者有时难以定期参加课程，或者不愿意参加基于小组的课程。此外，在一些慢性病护理机构或社区中心，可能没有经验丰富的传统认知干预指导人员。考虑到这些原因，我们为MCI患者开发了5个使用个人机器人进行居家认知干预的项目。在这项初步研究中，我们旨在证明新开发的基于机器人的居家认知干预对MCI患者认知功能的影响。
我们进行了一项单盲随机对照试验，纳入了46例MCI患者。参与者被随机分为两组：机器人认知干预（机器人）组（=24）和无认知干预（对照组）组（=22）。干预措施包括每天60分钟，共持续4周。主要结局是使用剑桥神经心理测试自动成套系统测量的认知功能变化。
机器人组和对照组在基线人口统计学或临床特征方面无显著差异。经过4周的认知干预后，机器人组在工作记忆方面的改善比对照组更大。
我们基于个人机器人的居家认知干预改善了MCI患者的工作记忆。需要进行更大样本量和更长研究周期的进一步研究，以证明这些项目对MCI患者其他认知领域的影响。
