Effect of empathy doll therapy on aggressive behavior and quality of life for elderly people with moderate dementia / 中国实用护理杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the effect of empathy doll therapy on aggressive behaviors and subjective well-being for elderly people with dementia, to provide reference for non-drug treatment of moderate senile dementia patients.Methods:A total of 104 senile dementia patients were randomly assigned to experimental group (52 cases) and control group (52 cases). Patients in the control group received routine nursing, while patients in the experimental group carried out empathy doll therapy. The aggressive behavior and quality of life-Alzheimer`s disease in two groups was assessed by Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory (CMAI) and QOL-AD, respectively.Results:After thirty days of intervention, the scores of physical aggressive behavior, physical non-aggressive behavior, language of agitated behavior and total CMAI were significantly decreased in the experimental group compared to the control group (13.63±3.92, 28.30±5.82, 18.85±4.53, 60.78±8.17 vs 15.94±4.09s, 30.84±4.23, 20.78±4.78, 67.55±7.96, t value was 2.014-4.088, P<0.05); moreover, the scores of physical health and behavioral compliance, mental state, living environment and social relations, life satisfaction and total QOL-AD were significantly increased in the experimental group compared to the control group (7.75±0.62, 11.78±0.86, 13.24±1.04, 3.68±0.32, 36.44±1.66 vs 6.41±0.52, 10.12±0.71, 11.95±0.96, 2.59±0.50, 31.08±1.33), the difference was statically significant ( t value was 6.281-17.444, P<0.05). Conclusion:Empathy doll therapy can reduce the aggressive behavior and enhance the quality of life of senile dementia patients.