Background: To compare the effects of dance and aerobic exercise on cognition and neuropsychiatric symptoms in older people with cognitive impairment.
Methods: Twenty-three older adults (mean age = 78 ± 7 years; males: n = 7, females: n = 16) attending a day care center and diagnosed with cognitive impairment were randomly assigned to a 16-week dance intervention or an aerobic exercise intervention (60 min/week). Cognitive function [Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE)], neuropsychiatric symptoms [Geriatric Depression Scale-15 (GDS-15), Neuro-Psychiatric Inventory-R (NPI-R)], and physical function [Timed Up and Go (TUG), Activity Daily Living (ADL)] were assessed at baseline and at the end of the intervention. After Borg scale assessment, these two physical activities were performed at similar intensity (60-70% HRR).
Results: MMSE score increased significantly after the intervention in the dance group (+ 3.3/+ 14%, p = 0.03), especially memory performance (+1/+220%, p = 0.03), but not in the aerobic exercise group. GDS-15 and NPI-R decreased significantly after the intervention in both groups (p < 0.001). However, no significant effect was found for TUG and ADL.
Conclusion: Dance is a cost-effective multimodal intervention that could improve cognition. A low-frequency ecological dance intervention (once per week; 60 min) could improve cognition, especially verbal memory. These results should be further investigated for the practice of dance in facilities for older adults.
Keywords: Behavior; Dance; Dementia; Exercise; Randomized controlled trial (RCT).
© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to European Geriatric Medicine Society.