Abstract
Past research has shown that pharmacological measures can enhance cognitive and functional capacities for patients with Alzheimer's disease, but may result in unacceptable side effects. Investigations using nonpharmacological treatments are limited. This study evaluates the therapeutic effect of the game of Bingo as cognitive stimulation, versus daily physical activity, on short-term memory, concentration, word retrieval, and word recognition. Informed consent was obtained from the designated representatives of 50 subjects from six community adult day care centers on Long Island. The results show that cognitive stimulation enhanced performance on the Boston Naming Test and a Word List Recognition Task; physical intervention, however, did not reach statistical significance. Thus, a simple cognitive activity such as Bingo can be of great value to the daily management of Alzheimer's patients.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (282.7 KB).
References
- Steinberg M : Pharmacologic treatment of Alzheimer's disease: An update on approved, unapproved therapies. Formulary. 1999; 34: 32-44. [Google Scholar]
- Steinberg M , Lyketsos C: Rational pharmacotherapy for Alzheimer's disease. Medical Update for Psychiatrists. 1997; 2: 5-10. [Google Scholar]
- Shintani E , Uchida K: Donepezil: An anticholinesterase inhibitor for Alzheimer's disease. American Journal of Health-Systems Pharmacology. 1997; 54: 2085-2110. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Katzman R , Kawas C: The epidemiology of dementia and Alzheimer disease. In: Terry RD, Katzman R, and Bick KL (eds): Alzheimer Disease. New York: Raven Press, 1994. [Google Scholar]
- Evans DA , Funkenstein HH, Albert MS, et al.: Prevalence of Alzheimer's disease in a community population of older persons. Higher than previously reported. Journal of the American Medical Association. 1989; 262(18): 2551-2556. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Small GW , Rabins PV, Barry PB, et al.: Diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer disease and related disorders: Consensus statement of the American Medical Association, and the American Geriatrics Society. Journal of the American Medical Association. 1997; 278: 1363-1371. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- The Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD) : Neuropsychology Battery: For cognitive assessment of Alzheimer's disease and other dementing disorders of the elderly and for possible dementia prodrome. Duke University Medical Center, CERAD, 1987. [Google Scholar]