ABSTRACT

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of occupational therapy based multimodal cognitive rehabilitation on cognitive function in elderly people with mild dementia. Methods: Forty mild dementia patients were randomly divided into occupational therapy based multimodal cognitive rehabilitation group and traditional intervention(cognitive stimulation and cognitive training) group. Both therapies were applied for 2 hours in a day and 2 times in a week for 7 weeks. To verify the effect of intervention, the following cognitive function evaluation measures used : Allen Cognitive Level Scale(ACLS), Korean version of Mini Mental State Examination(MMSE-K), Trail Making Test-A(TMT-A). Results: The ACLS score of the occupational therapy based multimodal cognitive rehabilitation group was significantly increased than traditional intervention(cognitive stimulation and cognitive training) group ( p <0.05). However, MMSE-K, TMT-A scores showed no significant differences between the two groups. Conclusion: Occupational therapy based multimodal cognitive rehabilitation is an effective intervention for improving higher cognitive function in mild dementia patients.