Molteni Valentina, Vaccaro Roberta, Ballabio Roberta, Ceppi Laura, Cantù Marco, Ardito Rita B, Adenzato Mauro, Poletti Barbara, Guaita Antonio, Pezzati Rita
Dipartimento di Economia Aziendale e Socio Sanitaria (SUPSI), Centro Competenza Anziani, 6928 Manno, Switzerland.
GINCO Ticino Association, 6802 Monteceneri, Switzerland.
J Clin Med. 2022 Oct 24;11(21):6262. doi: 10.3390/jcm11216262.
Background: Doll therapy (DT) is a non-pharmacological intervention for the treatment of the behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD). We designed a single-blind randomized controlled trial of the 30-day efficacy of DT in reducing the BPSD, professional caregivers’ distress and patients’ biomarkers of stress, and in improving the exploration and caregiving behaviours. Methods: We randomly assigned 134 women with moderate-to-severe dementia living in nursing homes (NHs) to a DT intervention (DTI, 67) or a sham intervention with a cube (SI, 67). Results: From the first to the 30th session, the DTI group showed a significant decrease in the Neuropsychiatric Inventory-NH (NPI-NH) total score and in the NPI-NH-Distress score compared to the SI group (both p < 0.001). We observed a greater interest in the doll than in the cube, a greater acceptance of a separation from the nurse among DTI participants, and caregiving and exploratory behaviours towards the doll. There were no differences between the groups in the stress biomarkers. Conclusions: Consistent with attachment theory, our findings support the 30-day efficacy of DT, as this non-pharmacological intervention promotes perceptions of security by creating a situation in which patients feel confident and engaged in a caregiving relationship with the doll and reduces the challenging behaviours that are stressful for professional caregivers.
玩偶疗法（DT）是一种用于治疗痴呆症行为和心理症状（BPSD）的非药物干预措施。我们设计了一项单盲随机对照试验，以评估DT在30天内减轻BPSD、专业护理人员的痛苦以及患者应激生物标志物的效果，并改善探索和护理行为。方法：我们将134名居住在养老院的中重度痴呆女性随机分为DT干预组（DTI，67人）或使用立方体的假干预组（SI，67人）。结果：从第1次到第30次治疗，与SI组相比，DTI组的神经精神科问卷-养老院版（NPI-NH）总分和NPI-NH-痛苦评分显著降低（均p<0.001）。我们观察到，与立方体相比，参与者对玩偶更感兴趣，DTI参与者更能接受与护士分开，并且对玩偶有护理和探索行为。两组在应激生物标志物方面没有差异。结论：与依恋理论一致，我们的研究结果支持DT的30天疗效，因为这种非药物干预通过创造一种患者感到自信并参与与玩偶的护理关系的情境，促进了安全感的感知，并减少了给专业护理人员带来压力的挑战性行为。
