title: Short-term effect of combined drug therapy and cognitive stimulation therapy on the cognitive function of Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (i.e. donepezil) are known to benefit Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. However, the combined effects of acetylcholinesterase and cognitive stimulation therapy (CST) are still debated. The present study examined their combined effects on the progression of cognitive decline in AD.
  
  
  METHODS
  The present study was a non-randomized controlled study and included two groups of patients with AD (i.e. CST group and control group). The CST group consisted of 31 patients with AD who received donepezil and weekly, 30-min CST sessions over the course of 7 weeks. The control group consisted of 18 patients who received only donepezil. Changes in cognitive abilities were assessed with Hasegawa's Dementia Scale-Revised (HDS-R) and were statistically analyzed by repeated-measure analysis of variance (anova).
  
  
  RESULTS
  ANOVA showed a significant group × time interaction effect on the HDS-R score. HDS-R scores for the CST group increased significantly during the intervention period, whereas the scores for the control group did not increase. Differences between the means of pre- and post-test HDS-R scores were significantly different between the groups; scores were significantly higher for the CST group than the control group. The groups differed significantly in the proportion of subjects whose score increased by more than four points on the HDS-R (Fisher's exact test, P < 0.05; 8 patients (25.8%) in the CST group and none (0.0%) in the control group).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that CST is one of the important non-pharmacological treatment strategies for patients with AD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Educational Psychology, Tokyo Gakugei University, Koganei, Japan. matsuda@u-gakugei.ac.jp
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Matsuda
authors.forename: Emi
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Shido
authors.forename: Ayako
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hashikai
authors.forename: Haruka
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shibuya
authors.forename: Mitsue
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kouno
authors.forename: Chizuko
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hara
authors.forename: Masahiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saito
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000628:therapy*; D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D000077265:Donepezil; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007189:Indans / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010880:Piperidines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011340:Problem Solving; D011932:Reading; D014706:Verbal Learning
chemical_list: D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors; D007189:Indans; D010880:Piperidines; D000077265:Donepezil