JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Little is known about the potential of physical training using motion-based technology (MBT) for people with dementia.

Objective:

To investigate the feasibility and efficacy of MBT physical training at home for people with dementia.

Methods:

A three-phase pilot study: (1) baseline start-up, (2) 15 weeks of group training at a local care center twice a week, and (3) 12 weeks of group training reduced to once a week, supplemented with individual MBT training twice a week at home. Twenty-six people with dementia from a municipality in Southern Denmark were eligible and agreed to participate in this study. Three withdrew from the study, leaving 23 participants for the final analysis. Feasibility was measured by the percentage of participants who trained with MBT at home, and their completion rate of total scheduled MBT sessions. Efficacy was evaluated by physical function, measured by: Sit-to-Stand (STS), Timed-Up-and-Go (TUG), 6-Minute Walk test (6MW), and 10-meter DUAL-task Walking test (10MDW); mental function was measured by Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE) and European Quality of Life questionnaire (EQOL5). Descriptive statistics were applied accordingly. Wilcoxon signed-rank and rank-sum tests were applied to explore significant differences within and between the groups.

Results:

Twelve (52%) out of 23 participants used the supplemental MBT training at home. Among them, six (43%) completed ≥75% scheduled sessions, five completed ≤25%, and three completed between 25-75% scheduled sessions. For physical function tests, supplementing with MBT training at home showed a tendency of overall stabilization of scores. However, the 10MDW test showed a significant improvement (from 9.2 to 7.1 seconds) among the subgroup of participants who actively trained with MBT (P=.03). We found no positive effect on the MMSE or EQOL5 tests.

Conclusions:

More than half of the study population with dementia used MBT training at home, and among them, half had an overall high adherence to the home training activity. Physical function remained stable or even improved among high-adherence MBT individuals. We conclude that MBT training at home for people with dementia is feasible for selected individuals. Further research is warranted.