P2-013: the effects of a ‘cognition protecting tai chi’ (cpt) exercise program on cognition, moods, behavioural and psychiatric symptoms, and activities of daily living in older people with mild dementia

A set of Tai Chi program named ‘Cognition Protecting Tai Chi’ (CPT) has been specially designed for older people with cognitive impairments by our research team. The aim of this study is to assess the effects of a bespoke ‘Cognition Protecting Tai Chi’ (CPT) program on older patients with mild dementia. Eighty older patients with mild dementia participated the study and were randomly allocated to the intervention group and the control group. The intervention group practiced the CPT three times a week for 20 min each time under the guidance of professional therapists for 10 months, while the control group continued receiving routine treatments. All participants underwent a series of tests on cognition, depressive moods, behavioural and psychiatric symptoms, and activities of daily living, including the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), the WHO-University of California Los Angeles-Auditory Verbal Learning test (WHO-UCLA-AVLT), Trail Making Test (TMT), Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), Neuropsychological Inventory (NPI) and Barthel Index (BI), at baseline, 5 and 10 months. Results show the CPT significantly improved some of the cognitive measures, alleviated depressive moods, behavioral and psychological. 74 participants (IG: n=36, CG: n=38) completed the 10-month study. Repeated measures ANOVA revealed a significant group × time interaction (F=5.714, P=0.005) in the MoCA score, both a significant main effect of time (F=5.457, P=0.01) and a significant group × time interaction (F=4.986, P=0.021) in the NPI score, a significant main effect of time (F=4.506, P=0.014) and a significant group × time interaction in the GDS score. No falls or severe adverse events were reported.