Imagery in Early Stages of Dementia

University of West Attica

Status

Enrolling

Conditions

Dementia of Alzheimer Type

Mental Imagery

Treatments

Device: Mental Imagery and Exercise program

Other: Mental imagery (MI) and exercise program

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

Identifiers

NCT05232526

93292 - 26/10/2021

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the effectiveness of mental imagery (MI) in subjects with early stage of dementia. The hypothesis of the study is that MI will have a beneficial effect in motor, cognitive and emotional state in this clinical population.

Full description

Dementia is a disorder that is characterized by a decline in cognition involving one or more cognitive domains (learning and memory, language, executive function, complex attention, perceptual-motor, social cognition). The most common form of dementia in older adults is Alzheimer disease (AD), accounting for 60 to 80 percent of cases.

Mental imagery (MI) is a technique which involves envisioning motor actions without actual execution. MI is considered an effective rehabilitative tool in athletes, Parkinson's disease, and post stroke because it engages the same or similar neural systems as the actual execution of motor actions to improve gait, gait-related, and cognitive functions having as a result improvements in gait speed, stride length, tandem stance, timed up and go, clock drawing and stroop interference.

The recruitment of the population will be carried out by Day Care Centers in Athens Alzheimer Association. A group of elderly patients with early stage of dementia, aged 65 to 95 years, will participate. Information sheet and consent form will be provided to all participants. A randomized intervention study is designed to assess the efficacy of MI as therapeutic strategy for subjects with early stage of dementia and the sample will be randomized to one of the three following study groups: 1. MI and exercise program (intervention group) 2. Only exercise program (control group) 3. Neither MI nor exercise program (2nd control group). Assessment will be obtained in three-time periods: prior to the program, middle of the program and after the program.

Enrollment

105 estimated patients

Sex

All

Ages

65 to 95 years old

Volunteers

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

95 years<age>65 years
Diagnosed early stage of dementia
Good oral and written speech and to perform orders
Both sexes
Ambulatory
No other health issues in the last month

Exclusion criteria

Late stage of dementia
Psychiatric problems
Serious health problems
Not able to walk

Trial design

Primary purpose

Treatment

Allocation

Randomized

Interventional model

Parallel Assignment

Masking

None (Open label)

105 participants in 2 patient groups, including a placebo group

Mental imagery (MI) and exercise program

Experimental group

Description:

MI will start immediately when the sample is going to start the exercise program. The intervention group will undergo 24 sessions of imagery, starting from the 1st exercise program session. Participants of the intervention group will undergo a 45-minute imagery session sitting in a quiet place after the end of every exercise program session. The content of every imagery session is alike with the content of the exercise program session. That means that every session includes imagery of the same exercises of the exercise program performed earlier by the subject in the Day Center. Sessions are identical for all subjects of the intervention group. The total duration of the physiotherapy exercise program will be 24 sessions, 2 times/week, duration of 45 minutes each session, 3 months (12 weeks).

Treatment:

Device: Mental Imagery and Exercise program

Other: Mental imagery (MI) and exercise program

Exercise program

Placebo Comparator group

Description:

The total duration of the physiotherapy exercise program will be 24 sessions, 2 times/week, duration of 45 minutes each session, 3 months (12 weeks).

Treatment:

Other: Mental imagery (MI) and exercise program