Virtual Reality-based Cognitive Intervention for Enhancing Executive Functions in Community-dwelling Older Adults

ABSTRACT

With the rapid growth of the older population globally, it is anticipated that age-related cognitive decline in the prodromal phase and more severe pathological decline will increase. Moreover, currently, no effective treatment options for the disease exist. Thus, early and timely prevention actions are promising and prior strategies to preserve cognitive functions by preventing symptomatology from increasing the age-related deterioration of the functions in healthy older adults. This study aims to develop the virtual reality-based cognitive intervention for enhancing executive functions (EFs) and examine the EFs after training with the virtual reality-based cognitive intervention in community-dwelling older adults. Following inclusion/exclusion criteria, 60 community-dwelling older adults aged 60–69 years were involved in the study and randomly divided into passive control and experimental groups. Eight 60 min virtual reality-based cognitive intervention sessions were held twice a week and lasted for 1 month. The EFs (i.e., inhibition, updating, and shifting) of the participants were assessed by using standardized computerized tasks, i.e., Go/NoGo, forward and backward digit span, and Berg’s card sorting tasks. Additionally, a repeated-measure ANCOVA and effect sizes were applied to investigate the effects of the developed intervention. The virtual reality-based intervention significantly improved the EFs of older adults in the experimental group. (AU)

RESUMEN

Ante el rápido crecimiento de la población mayor a nivel mundial se prevé un aumento del deterioro cognitivo propio de la edad en la fase prodrómica y un mayor deterioro patológico. Además no hay en la actualidad opciones eficaces de tratamiento de la enfermedad. Por tanto, las medidas preventivas tempranas y puntuales suponen estrategias prometedoras para preservar las funciones cognitivas al evitar que la sintomatología aumente el deterioro de las funciones asociado a la edad de personas mayores sanas. El presente estudio tiene como obejetivo desarrollar una intervención cognitiva basada en la realidad virtual para mejorar las funciones ejecutivas (FE) y examinarlas tras el entrenamiento de intervención cognitiva con realidad virtual en personas mayores que viven en su domicilio. Teniendo en cuenta criterios de inclusión y exclusión se contó para el estudio con 60 personas mayores de entre 60 y 69 años que vivían en su domicilio, a los que se asignó aleatoriamente a un grupo de control pasivo y a un grupo experimental. (AU)