Abstract
Ageing is associated with the deterioration of all cognitive functions, including attention, memory and psychomotor speed. It has not yet been clearly confirmed whether the effects of cognitive and physical interventions can improve activities of daily living (ADL). This study compared the effectiveness of cognitive and physical training on cognitive functions and the transfer to ADL. Eighty older people with mild cognitive impairment (mean age 67.07 ± 4.3 years) were randomly divided into an experimental group (n = 40) and a control group (n = 40). Data were collected in an outpatient psychiatric clinic in a randomised controlled trial. Primary outcome measures included the following: cognitive functions were evaluated using the mini mental state examination, the AVLT—Auditory verbal learning test, the Stroop test, the TMT—trail making test, the DRT—disjunctive reaction time and the NHPT—nine hole peg test. Secondary outcome measure was the Bristol activities of daily living scale. The experimental group underwent a CogniPlus and physical training; consisting of 20 training sessions over 10 weeks. Both groups went through 30 min of daily physical training for 10 weeks. After the training, significant differences in favour of the experimental group were found in almost all the tests. In memory (AVLT) (p ≤ 0.0001, effect size (ES) η 2 = 0.218. In reduction of the response time on attention tasks (Stroop tasks) (p ≤ 0.006, ES = 0.092–0.115). In lower error rates in all tests: Stroop tasks, DRT, TMT, NHPT (p ≤ 0.02–0.001, ES = 0.062–0.176). In ADL (p ≤ 0.0001, ES = 0.176). The combined cognitive and physical training had better efficacy for most cognitive functions and for ADL when compared with the physical training only.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bahar-Fuchs A, Clare L, Woods B (2013) Cognitive training and cognitive rehabilitation for mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 6:CD003260
Bartos A, Martinek P, Ripova D (2010) Bristolska skala aktivit kazdodenniho zivota (BADLS-CZ) [Bristol Activities of Daily Living Scale—Czech version]. Cesk Slov Neurol N 73:673
Bezdicek O, Motak L, Axelrod BN, Preiss M, Nikolai T, Vyhnalek M, Ruzicka E (2012) Czech version of the trail making test: normative data and clinical utility. Arch Clin Neuropsychol 27:906–914
Bherer L (2015) Cognitive plasticity in older adults: effects of cognitive training and physical exercise. Ann NY Acad Sci 1337:1–6
Brown BM, Peiffer JJ, Martins RN (2013) Multiple effects of physical activity on molecular and cognitive signs of brain aging: can exercise slow neurodegeneration and delay Alzheimer’s disease? Mol Psychiatr 18:864–874
Bucks RS, Ashworth DL, Wilcock GK, Siegfried K (1996) Assessment of activities of daily living in dementia: development of Bristol activities of daily living scale. Age Ageing 25:113–120
Chang YK, Pan ChY, Chen FT, Tsai CHL, Huang CHCH (2012) Effect of resistance-exercise training on cognitive function in healthy older adults: a review. J Aging Phys Act 20:497–517
Clare L, Woods RT (2004) Cognitive training and cognitive rehabilitation for people with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease: a review. Neuropsychol Rehabil 14(1):385–401
CogniPlus: Training cognitive functions (2013) http://www.schuhfried.at/fileadmin/content/2_Kataloge_en/CogniPlus_en_Katalog_SCHUHFRIED_3.2.pdf. Accessed 05 May 2016
Cohen J (1988) Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. Erlbaum, Hillsdale
Daniel J (1983) Stroopov test (Stroop test). Psychodiagnosticke a didakticke testy n.p. (Psychodiagnostic and didactic tests), Bratislava
Folstein MF, Folstein SE, Mchugh PR (1975) Mini-mental state. A practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. J Psychiatr Res 12:189–198
Gates N, Fiatarone Singh MA, Valenzuela M (2013) The effect of exercise training on cognitive function in older adults with mild cognitive impairment: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Am J Geriat Psychiatr 21:1086–1097
Green CS, Bavelier D (2012) Learning, attentional control, and action video games. Curr Biol 22(6):R197–R206
Hiyamizu M, Morioka SAK, Shimada T (2011) Effects of dual task balance training on dual task performance in elderly people: a randomized controlled trial. Clin Rehabil 26:58–67
Kueider AM, Parisi JM, Gross AL, Rebok GW (2012) Computerized cognitive training with older adults: a systematic review. PLoS One 7:e40588. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0040588
Lautenschlager NT, Cox K, Kurz AF (2010) Physical activity and mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease. Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep 10:352–358
Mathiowetz V, Weber K, Kashman N, Volland G (1985) Adult norms for the nine hole peg test of finger dexterity. Occup Ther J Res 5:24–33
McMinn MR, Wiens AN, Crossen JR (1988) Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test: developmental norms for healthy young adults. Clin Neuropsychol 2(1):67–87
NICE—National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, Social Care Institute for Excellence (2011) Dementia: The NICE–SCIE guideline on supporting people with dementia and their careers in health and social care. National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence website. http://www.scie.org.uk/publications/misc/dementia/dementia-fullguideline.pdf?res=true. Accessed 05 May 2016
Patla AE (2003) Strategies for dynamic stability during adaptive human locomotion. IEEE Eng Med Biol Mag 22:48–52
Preiss M (1994) Pametovy test uceni pro klinickou praxi (Memory test learning for clinical practice). Czechoslovak Psychol 38:257–265
Reijnders J, van Heugten C, van Boxtel M (2013) Cognitive interventions in healthy older adults and people with mild cognitive impairment: a systematic review. Ageing Res Rev 12:263–275
Reinvang I, Grambaite R, Espeseth T (2012) Executive dysfunction in MCI: subtype or early symptom. Int J Alzheimers Dis 936272:1–8. doi:10.1155/2012/936272
Reitan RM, Wolfson D (1985) The Halstead—reitan neuropsychological test battery. Neuropsychology Press
Rican P (1971) Test intelektoveho potencialu (test of intellectual potential). Psychodiagnosticke a Didakticke testy (Psychodiagnostic and didactic tests), Bratislava
Seçer I, Satyen L (2013) Training skills of divided attention among older adults. J Artic Support Null Hypothesis 9:62–78
Stroop J (1935) Studies of interference in serial verbal reactions. J Exp Psychol 18:643–662
Uemura K, Shimada H, Makizako H, Doi T, Yoshida D, Tsutsumimoto K, Anan Y, Suzuki T (2013) Cognitive function affects trainability for physical performance in exercise intervention among older adults with mild cognitive impairment. Clin Interv Aging 8:97–102
Vonkomer J (1992) DRC—II, Disjunktivny reakcny cas (Disjunctive reaction time) Psychodiagnostika, s.r.o. (Psychodiagnostics), Bratislava
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Slovak Research and Development Agency under contract No. APVV-0220-10. The authors also wish thank all patients who agreed to participate in this study.
Disclosure
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interests
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Responsible editor: D.J.H. Deeg.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hagovska, M., Nagyova, I. The transfer of skills from cognitive and physical training to activities of daily living: a randomised controlled study. Eur J Ageing 14, 133–142 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-016-0395-y
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-016-0395-y