Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Mental Health
Date Submitted: May 11, 2023
Date Accepted: Sep 12, 2023
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Effect of individual virtual reality cognitive training programs on cognitive function and depression in middle-aged women: a randomized controlled study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Considering that the incidence of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease is increasing every year, strategies for early diagnosis and rapid treatment intervention are needed to prevent and cope with cognitive problems in women and middle-aged people who are at great risk of cognitive impairment.
Objective:
This study aimed to verify the effectiveness of cognitive function and depression in Virtual Reality (VR)-based individual cognitive training programs, which are non-drug therapy interventions, for middle-aged women who are at high risk of cognitive impairment, using VR technology, which was recently proposed as a promising tool.
Methods:
This study conducted a VR-based cognitive training program once a day for 30 minutes, twice a week, for a total of 12 weeks (24 sessions) in middle-aged women visiting the elderly welfare facilities located in G-gu, Busan, for 12 weeks from May to August 2021. A total of 60 participants were randomly assigned to training (30) and control (30) groups. The Korean version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (K-MOCA), Digit Span Test (DST), Korean-Color Word Stroop Test (K-CWST), and the Korean version of the Short Form of Geriatric Depression Scale (SGDS-K) were pre-evaluated to measure the participants cognitive and depressive functions. The training group underwent a VR-based cognitive training program, while the control group was educated to undergo cognitive training while maintaining normal daily living activities. After 12 weeks, the same evaluation was conducted as the pre-evaluation.
Results:
The results of the comparison before and after the VR-based cognitive training programs showed a significant increase in the K-MoCA score, which is a cognitive function evaluation (P<0.01). Moreover, a significant increase was observed in the DST forward and backward scores, which are cognitive function evaluations (P<0.01, P=0.01). Finally, a significant decrease was observed in the SGDS-K score, which is a measure of depression (P<0.01).
Conclusions:
The VR-based individual cognitive training programs significantly improved cognitive function and reduced depression in middle-aged women. Therefore, these programs are considered helpful in managing depression and improving cognitive function as non-drug therapy cognitive training programs for middle-aged women who are greatly exposed to the risk of cognitive impairment. Clinical Trial: UMIN Clinical Trials Registry UMIN000049752
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