Domingo Jesús Quintana Hernández1, María Teresa Miró Barrachina2, Ignacio Ibáñez Fernández3, Angelo Santana del Pino4, Jaime Rojas Hernández5, Javier Rodríguez García6, María del Pino Quintana Montesdeoca4. 1. ISCAN Servicios Integrales, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, España; Asociación Canaria para el desarrollo de la Salud a través de la Atención, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, España; Grupo de Investigación de Mindfulness y Salud, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, España. Electronic address: domingoj.quintana@gmail.com. 2. Grupo de Investigación de Mindfulness y Salud, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, España; Departamento de Personalidad, Evaluación y Tratamientos Psicológicos, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, España. 3. Departamento de Personalidad, Evaluación y Tratamientos Psicológicos, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, España. 4. Departamento de Matemáticas, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, España. 5. Asociación Canaria para el desarrollo de la Salud a través de la Atención, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, España. 6. Centro Sociosanitario El Pino, Grupo Sanitario ICOT, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, España.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: A longitudinal study was conducted in order to analyze the feasibility, safety, and effects of the practice of mindfulness, relaxation and cognitive stimulation on the evolution of Alzheimer's disease, with the aim of testing the equivalence of these interventions. MATERIAL AND METHODS: There were a total of 168 participants with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD) treated withdonepezil. In the present article, the 21 participants with advanced AD who completed a follow-up period of 24 months are presented. The participants were grouped into three experimental groups (mindfulness, relaxation, and cognitive stimulation) and one control group. Each group carried out three weekly sessions with bi-annual follow-up measurements (cognition: CAMCOG and MMSE; functionality: RDRS; psychopathology: NPI). Non-parametric analyses were performed. RESULTS: The cognitive function and functionality scores showed no significant differences between the groups. However, the scores in cognitive function of the mindfulness group and the cognitive stimulation group did not decrease in an intra-group analysis. In NPI, there were significant differences between the mindfulness group and the control group by the end of the study (P<.017). CONCLUSION: The data showed that the treatment with donepezil in combination with mindfulness or cognitive stimulation presented a better clinical evolution than the pharmacological treatment alone or combined with relaxation. These data suggest that these therapeutic alternatives should be investigated further, and that the non-pharmacological treatments should be recommended in clinical practice in order to control the evolution of AD in the long term. In order to confirm these findings, a larger study is necessary.
RCT Entities:
INTRODUCTION: A longitudinal study was conducted in order to analyze the feasibility, safety, and effects of the practice of mindfulness, relaxation and cognitive stimulation on the evolution of Alzheimer's disease, with the aim of testing the equivalence of these interventions. MATERIAL AND METHODS: There were a total of 168 participants with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD) treated with donepezil. In the present article, the 21 participants with advanced AD who completed a follow-up period of 24 months are presented. The participants were grouped into three experimental groups (mindfulness, relaxation, and cognitive stimulation) and one control group. Each group carried out three weekly sessions with bi-annual follow-up measurements (cognition: CAMCOG and MMSE; functionality: RDRS; psychopathology: NPI). Non-parametric analyses were performed. RESULTS: The cognitive function and functionality scores showed no significant differences between the groups. However, the scores in cognitive function of the mindfulness group and the cognitive stimulation group did not decrease in an intra-group analysis. In NPI, there were significant differences between the mindfulness group and the control group by the end of the study (P<.017). CONCLUSION: The data showed that the treatment with donepezil in combination with mindfulness or cognitive stimulation presented a better clinical evolution than the pharmacological treatment alone or combined with relaxation. These data suggest that these therapeutic alternatives should be investigated further, and that the non-pharmacological treatments should be recommended in clinical practice in order to control the evolution of AD in the long term. In order to confirm these findings, a larger study is necessary.