A three-year follow-up on the efficacy of psychosocial interventions for patients with mild dementia and their caregivers: the multicentre, rater-blinded, randomised Danish Alzheimer Intervention Study (DAISY)

Objectives To examine the long-term efficacy at the 36-month follow-up of an early psychosocial counselling and support programme lasting 8-12months for community-dwelling patients with mild Alzheimer's disease and their caregivers. Design Multicentre, randomised, controlled, rater-blinded trial. Setting Primary care and memory clinics in five Danish districts. Participants 330 home-dwelling patients with mild Alzheimer's disease and their primary caregivers (dyads). Interventions Dyads were randomised to receive intervention during the first year after diagnosis. Both intervention and control groups had follow-up visits at 3, 6, 12 and 36months. Main outcome measures Primary outcomes for the patients assessed at 36-month follow-up were changes from baseline in global cognitive function (Mini-Mental State Examination), depressive symptoms (Cornell Depression Scale) and proxy-rated EuroQoL quality of life on visual analogue scale. The primary outcomes for the caregivers were changes from baseline in depressive symptoms (Geriatric Depression Scale) and self-rated EuroQoL quality of life on a visual analogue scale. The secondary outcome measures for the patient were proxy-rated Quality of Life Scale for Alzheimer's disease (QoL-AD), Neuropsychiatric Inventory-Questionnaire, Alzheimer's disease Cooperative Study Activities of Daily Living Scale, all-cause mortality and nursing home placement. Results At a 36-month follow-up, 2years after the completion of the Danish Alzheimer Intervention Study (DAISY), the unadjusted positive effects previously detected at the 12-month follow-up in one patient primary outcome (Cornell depression score) and one patient secondary outcome (proxy-rated QoL-AD) disappeared (Cornell depression score, p=0.93; proxy-rated QoL-AD, p=0.81). No long-term effect of DAISY intervention on any other primary and secondary outcomes was found at the 36-month follow-up. Conclusions For patients with very mild Alzheimer's disease and their caregivers, an intensive, multi-component, semitailored psychosocial intervention programme with counselling, education and support during the first year after diagnosis did not show any positive long-term effect on primary and secondary outcomes.