Outcomes of expanded cognitive stimulation therapy group for mild-stage dementia: Four-month follow-up

Abstract

Purposes: This research aims to report the results of a 4-month follow-up study of an expanded cognitive stimulation therapy (CST) group that combines CST and Tai Chi on improving the cognitive abilities of community-dwelling Chinese elderly with mild-stage dementia (EwMD). Methods: Two-group pretest–posttest design was adopted in this study, involving 101 Chinese community-dwelling EwMD who had completed an expanded CST group conducted at a local elderly center. Cognitive abilities of the EwMD were assessed by standardized assessment tools at pretreatment (T1), posttreatment (T2), and the 4-month point after completion of treatment (T3). Results: The repeated-measures analysis of variance showed that after completing the expanded CST group, the improved cognitive abilities of participants could be maintained up to 4 months after the completion of treatment. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that treatment effects of the expanded CST group could be maintained up to 4 months after completion of treatment.