EFFECTS OF COGNITIVE LEISURE ACTIVITY PROGRAMS ON COGNITION IN MCI: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL

Abstract

Participation in cognitive leisure activities is reported to be associated with reduced risk of dementia in older adults in observational studies; however, there are no definitive clinical trials examining whether cognitive leisure activities reduce the risk of cognitive decline. To test the hypothesis that a long-term, structured cognitive leisure activity program is effective on cognition in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a high risk for dementia. The study was designed a 3-arm, single-blind randomized controlled trial. Participants were 201 Japanese adults with MCI (mean age: 76.0, 52% women). Participants were randomized into 1 of 2 cognitive leisure activity programs (60 minutes weekly for 40 weeks): dance (n = 67) and playing musical instruments (n = 67), or a health education control group (n = 67). At 40 weeks, the dance group showed improved story memory recall scores compared with controls (mean change dance group 0.73 vs. controls 0.01; P = .011), whereas the music group did not show an improvement compared with controls (mean change music group 0.35; P = .123). Both dance (mean change 0.29; P = .026) and music groups (mean change 0.46; P = .008) showed improved Mini-Mental State Examination scores compared with controls (mean change −0.36). Long-term cognitive leisure activity programs involving dance or playing musical instruments resulted in improvements in memory and general cognitive function compared with a health education program in older adults with MCI.