Background: Considering the growth of the aging society and the prevalence of various types of disorders and cognitive impairment in this age group, it seems necessary to pay attention to easy-access, low-cost and low-complication care and treatment methods. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of group reminiscence on the cognitive and psychosocial functions of elderly women with mild Alzheimer's disease referred to the Iranian Alzheimer's Association Center.
Materials and methods: This quasi-experimental (before-after) study was conducted on 44 elderly women with mild Alzheimer's disease based on the scores of the MMSE, GDS, and Hour tests (in equal groups of 22 people) at the Iranian Alzheimer's Association Center in 2022. Inclusion criteria Consist of: being an elderly woman, being a member of the Iranian Alzheimer's Association, being 60 and over, suffering from Alzheimer's disease, having mild type (based on GDS, MMSE and Clock Drawing Test and evaluation and scoring by psychologists and psychiatrists of the center), having the physical ability to participate in this research (no severe hearing and speech impairment), not having a history of participating in reminiscence groups in the past year, non-participation in other psychosocial interventions at the same time as this study, and lack of severe mental illness. All participants were randomly divided into two intervention (reminiscence) and control groups. The intervention group followed a reminiscence group program and the control group followed daily issues program, group sessions were conducted during 16 sessions of 60 minutes and for 8 weeks. In the intervention group, elderly women based on the content of sessions Watt and Cappeliez protocol expressed pleasant and unpleasant memories of the past, and in the control group, group meetings were held about current and everyday issues. The cognitive and psychosocial function before and after the intervention was evaluated with the Multidimensional Observation Scale for Elderly Subjects (MOSES). The data were analyzed using SPSS version 22.
Results: The mean age of participating elderly patients was 75.09 ± 6.25 years (age range: 65-90 years). Most of the patients (54%) were married. Regarding education level, the majority of patients (49%) had less than a diploma. Regarding occupation, the majority of patients (92%) were housewives. The mean of the dimensions of the MOSES questionnaire before the intervention did not show a significant difference between the two intervention and control groups (P<0.05). The mean score of the self-care dimension (P=0.166), disorientation (P=0.426), depression (P=0.072), irritability (P=0.064), withdrawal (P=0.276) and the total score of the MOSES questionnaire (P=0.091) after the intervention did not show a significant difference between the intervention and control groups. Comparing before and after the intervention, it showed that in the control group, there was no significant difference between the dominant mean of MOSES dimensions (P<0.05). In the intervention group, a significant difference was observed between the average MOSES dimensions before and after the intervention (P<0.001) and the mean score was reduced compared to before the intervention, and a reduction in the score means an improvement in the situation of intervention group.
Conclusion: According to the results obtained in the study, reminiscence in elderly patients with Mild Alzheimer's causes a decrease in the mean score of the MOSES dimensions, which is a significant difference that means an improvement in the observational state of behavior in terms of activities such as dressing, bathing, using the toilet, physical activity, communication with others, recognition of people and time, short and long-term memory, expression of discomfort, correction of misbehavior, desire for social relations, attention to environmental events and free time after group reminiscence sessions.
