The Effects of Cognitive-Based Interventions in Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: cognitive-based intervention is divided into three types: cognitive stimulation (cs), cognitive training (ct), and cognitive rehabilitation (cr). this study was conducted to identify systematically the effects of cognitive-based interventions in randomized controlled trials (rcts) applied to older adults in the following three groups: cognitively healthy, mild cognitive impairment (mci), and dementia. methods: this search was carried out using the ovid-medline, embase, cochrane library, cinahl, proquest, and korea databases. the effectiveness of the intervention was verified using the cma 2.0 program. results: a total of 54 rcts were included in systematic reviews and 38 studies were analyzed by meta-analysis. meta-analysis showed that cognitive-based interventions were effective in improving the cognitive function (smd=0.39, 95% ci=0.32-0.44) of older adults. the subgroup analysis of cognitive function revealed that ct was the most effective in the cognitively healthy (smd=0.40, 95% ci=0.33-0.46) and the mci (smd=0.45, 95% ci=0.27-0.63) groups, and cs was the most effective in the dementia group (smd=0.57, 95% ci=0.43-0.70). conclusion: in order to improve the cognitive function of older adults in each group, the most effective intervention type needs to be considered first. evidence on the appropriate type of cognitive-based intervention will be helpful in nursing practice.