Loading your page…
Age and ageing
By Chan MY, Yin J, Cheung MT and 13 others.
Dementia harms the mental health of older adults and poses a significant caregiver burden. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture in managing cognitive decline and related symptoms in older adults with dementia.
Ward brings these articles into the same app as your cards and questions. One free account for Ward, Suture, Osler and Prognia.
Eligible participants were recruited from 19 local residential care homes for older people in Hong Kong, China, from 5 October 2021 to 27 August 2024, in an assessor-blinded, randomised controlled trial. 118 participants were randomised to acupuncture and care-as-usual control (n=59 in each group) for 12 weeks. The analyses were on the intention-to-treat population. The primary outcome was the mean baseline-to-endpoint change of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score. Secondary outcomes included the functional independence, pain, depressive and sleep symptoms.
85.6% (101/118) of participants completed the study. The primary outcome, MoCA, was not significantly improved in week 12. Subgroup analyses showed that the treatment effect on MoCA appeared to differ across dementia severity strata. Acupuncture was superior over control in improving functional independence (the Chinese version of the Modified Barthel Index, mean difference=4.12, 95% confidence interval=0.81, 7.44, P=0.015; standardised effect size=0.29). All treatment-related adverse events were mild, and 2 nontreatment-related death cases were reported.
While no significant effect in cognitive function was observed, acupuncture was associated with an improvement in functional independence, and the treatment effect on cognition might differ across dementia severity strata. This warrants further validation of the exploratory results, identifying a subpopulation of older adults with dementia who could gain more benefits from acupuncture in improving cognitive function.
www.ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04305951, date of registration: 10/03/2020.
Published in Age and ageing. The abstract is shown as published and remains the work of its authors; read the full article at the source.
Prognia lists this article for reference and education. It is not medical advice. Always read the original and follow current guidelines and local protocols before acting on it.
