Evaluation of effect of cognitive intervention for the community-dwelling elderly with subjective memory complaints

Purpose To compare the efficacy of cognitive training (CT) and cognitive stimulation (CS) programs for the community elderly with subjective memory complaints (SMC). Method The single-blind non-randomized controlled study was applied. The numbers of CTand CS participants were 14 and 11. The mean ages of CT and CS participants were 68.71 and 70.36. Memory training and problem solving strategies were applied in the CT group. There were ten 2-hourly sessions of CT. held twice weekly. CS group met once weekly in a 1.5-h class for eight classes. Cognitive performance tests of general cognitive performance, verbal memory and executive function were measured before/after the training and at 6 months follow-up. Results In both training conditions, the general cognitive performance were enhanced. The CT group showed improvement in the verbal memory test. The CS group did not trigger any training effect in the verbal memory test but the executive function. All cognitive progresses remained at follow-up. Conclusion Both cognitive training and cognitive stimulation programs showed training effects and remained until 6 months. Copyright (C) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.