A comparison of the effects of three treatment interventions on cognitive functioning of Alzheimer patients

Journal/Book: Music Therapy. 1986; 6a: 41-56.

Abstract: Explored the effects of 3 treatment approaches on the cognitive functioning of Alzheimer's disease (AD) Ss: (a) musically cued reminiscence, (b) verbally cued reminiscence, and (c) music alone. The Ss were 12 female nursing home residents (aged 71-92 yrs) who suffered from AD. Changes in cognitive functioning were ascertained by the differences between pre- and postsession treatment scores on the Mini-Mental State Examination. Comparisons were made for total scores and subscores for orientation, attention, and language. Results show that musically cued and verbally cued reminiscence significantly increased language subsection scores, but not orientation or attention subscores, nor total scores. Musical activity alone significantly increased total scores. Pretreatment scores were not predictive as to which intervention would be most effective. ABSTRACT 2: This study explored the effects of three treatment approaches on the cognitive functioning of Alzheimer's subjects: (musically cued remini- scence, (b) verbally cued reminiscence, and (c) music alone. The subjects were twelve female nursing home residents ranging in age from 71 to 92 who suffered from senile dementia and met currently accepted guidelines for having Alzhei- mer's Disease. Changes in cognitive functioning were ascertained by the diffe- rences in pre- and post-session treament scores on the Mini-Mental Status Questionnaire. The results showed that musically cued and verbally cued reminiscence significantly increased language subsection scores, but not orientation or attention scores, nor total scores. Musical activity alone significantly increased total scores, but not any section subscores. No one treatment intervention proved to be significantly more effective than the other two in increasing cognitive functioning level.

Note: musically vs verbally cued reminiscence vs music alone; cognitive functioning; 71 92 yr old female nursing home residents with Alzheimer's disease

Keyword(s): Alzheimers disease; cognitive ability; music therapy; reminiscence ; cues ; aged ; very old; verbal communication; adulthood

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