Journal of Alzheimers Disease & Parkinsonism
Open Access

Abstract

Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is one of the most recognized risk factors for dementia. It affects approximately 19% of the individuals over 65 years of age (Lopez et al., 2003) It is now recognized that these individuals are independent in performing everyday activities, but â�?�?take more time, are less efficient and make more errorsâ�?(Albert et at., 2011). Few studies have investigated the effects of non-pharmacological interventions in improving functional performance in this population. Thus, the aims of this study were to identify the non-pharmacological interventions which have been targeted at improving functional performance in individuals with MCI. To conduct a scoping review, a systematic electronic search was executed in following bibliographic databases: Ovid Medline (1999-2014), CINAHL (1999-2014), PsychINFO (1987-2014). Publications which estimated the effect of any non-pharmacological approaches in MCI and had instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) as one of their outcomes of interest, were deemed eligible. Data were extracted on the author, publication year, target population, study design, MCI diagnostic criteria, nature of the intervention, functional outcome measure and the outcome. Ten studies fulfilled the eligibility criteria. Four studies focussed on exercise training, five evaluated behavioural interventions and one combined both exercise and cognitive stimulation. Overall, exercise interventions reported improvements in functional abilities. The effect of behavioural interventions varied across studies. Combined aerobic training and cognitive stimulation did not yield any benefits in improving IADLs. Exercise studies seem promising, whereas the behavioural interventions illustrated mixed results. The findings of the review highlight more rigorous research is required in this area with specific considerations to methodology, follow-up duration, MCI criteria and IADL measures.

Biography

Navaldeep is a doctoral student in Rehabilitation Science at the McGill University, Canada. She completed her MSc in Exercise Science from the University of East London in the year 2010. Her research interests are focussed on individuals with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Email: naval.ndp@gmail.com