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Wellness education, yoga may be effective interventions in patients with mild cognitive impairment

Wellness education appeared to be the most effective intervention for managing patients with mild cognitive impairment, according to findings recently published in JAMA Network Open.

“There is a dearth of literature examining the effectiveness of various behavioral interventions compared with each other but an increase in support for the use of multicomponent interventions in dementia prevention efforts,” Melanie J. Chandler, PhD, of the division of psychology at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, and colleagues wrote.

Researchers randomly assigned 272 patients (mean age, 75 years; 160 men) who met the National Institute on Aging–Alzheimer’s Association criteria for mild cognitive impairment in an approximately 1:1 ratio to withhold either computerized cognitive training, memory compensation training, patient and partner support groups, wellness education or yoga for 2 weeks.

Chandler and colleagues found that 12 months after intervention, withholding wellness education had a greater effect on mood (effect size = 0.53; 95% CI, 0.21-0.86) and quality of life (effect size = 0.34; 95% CI, 0.05-0.64) vs. computerized cognitive training. In addition, yoga had a greater effect on memory-related activities of daily living than support groups (effect size = 0.43; 95% CI, 0.13-0.72).

 

In patients with mild cognitive impairment, yoga had a greater effect on memory-related activities of daily living than support groups, according to findings recently published in JAMA Network Open.

Source:Adobe

“These findings provide an initial exploration of the effect of behavioral interventions on patient-advocated outcomes in persons with [mild cognitive impairment],” Chandler and colleagues wrote, adding the findings are most applicable to patients “relatively early” following their mild cognitive impairment diagnosis. – by Janel Miller

Disclosures: Chandler reports she received grants from Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) during the conduct of the study. Please see the study for all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.