title: From Alzheimer's disease retrogenesis: a new care strategy for patients with advanced dementia.
abstract: There is evidence that exercise may reduce the progressive cognitive dysfunction of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, no previous investigation has studiethe acute effects of adapted games (AG) on patients with AD. The aim of this study was to examine the acute effects of AG on the agitated behavior (rating scale Agitated Behavior Rating Scale [ABRS]) and cognitive performance (Test for Severe Impairment [TSI]) of patients with advanced dementia. Twenty patients (83±4 yrs) participated in AG and placebo activities (PL). Agitated behavior and cognitive performance were compared before and after 30 minutes of AG and PL. In the hour after the AG, agitated behavior decreased by ∼4 ABRS points and cognitive performance increased by ∼5 TSI points. On the contrary, after PL we found no change in agitated behavior or cognitive performance. Our data indicate that AG can momentarily reduce agitated behavior and increase the cognitive performance in participants with AD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological, Neuropsychological, Morphological and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona 37131, Italy. massimo.venturelli@univr.it
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Venturelli
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Magalini
authors.forename: Renato
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Scarsini
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Schena
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011595:Psychomotor Agitation / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D016896:Treatment Outcome