Authors: (including presenting author): :
Chim TY(1), Chan YP(1), Wong SK(1), TAM KF(2)
Affiliation: :
(1)Occupational Therapy Department, Hong Kong Buddhist Hospital, (2)Department of Medicine, Hong Kong Buddhist Hospital
Keyword 1: :
mild cognitive impairment
Keyword 2: :
tele-rehabilitation
Keyword 3: :
cognitive training
Keyword 5: :
health-related quality of life
Keyword 6: :
language production
Introduction: :
The world's quickly aging population poses a significant global challenge. The issue is complicated by the prevalence of cognitive impairment, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Tele-rehabilitation is gaining popularity recently in hopes of overcoming geographical barriers to hospital access.
Objectives: :
This study aims to explore whether tele-rehabilitation, when compared with face-to-face training, is effective in improving cognitive functions and health-related quality of life of patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).
Methodology: :
35 people with MCI were recruited and randomly assigned to the tele-rehabilitation and face-to-face groups for cognitive training of 8 weeks. Tele-rehabilitation is conducted in a group format using the TeleHealth feature in HA-Go, while face-to-face rehabilitation was provided using existing materials and equipment at the Occupational Therapy Department.
The Independent t-Test was used to compare demographics between two groups. The Paired t-Test was used to compare the results of cognitive assessments and a health-related quality of life (HrQoL) survey within each group before and after treatment. Repeated measures analysis of variance was used to evaluate the difference of changes between two groups.
Result & Outcome: :
In the tele-rehabilitation group, there are statistically significant improvements in Verbal Fluency Test (t(9)=-2.587, p=0.029) , the total retrieval score and delayed recall score (t(9)=-3.498, p=0.007) of Fuld Object Memory Evaluation (FOME), the Color-word T-score of Stroop Color and Word Test (SCWT) (t(9)=-2.280, p=0.049), and the mental component summary (MCS) of 12-Item Short Form Survey (SF12) (t(9)=-2.517, p=0.033).
In the face-to-face group, there are significant improvements in the total storage score (t(9)=-2.459, p=0.036) and the total retrieval score (t(9)=-4.930, p=0.001) of FOME, and the MCS of SF12 (t(9)=-2.473, p=0.035).
The tele-rehabilitation group showed more significant improvements of in Verbal Fluency Test (F(1,28)=5.222, p=0.030), and in the Color-word T score of SCWT (F(1,28)=5.881, p=0.022) as compared with the face-to-face group. There are no significant between-group differences in the changes of other outcome measures. In conclusion, both group-based cognitive tele-rehabilitation and face-to-face cognitive rehabilitation showed significant effects in improving memory and mental HrQoL. Cognitive tele-rehabilitation group training is more effective in improving subjects’ language production and mental flexibility. The effect of group-based cognitive tele-rehabilitation in improving cognitive functions and HrQoL of patients with MCI is non-inferior to that of face-to-face cognitive rehabilitation.
