Mindfulness Awareness Practice (MAP) to Prevent Dementia in Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment: Protocol of a Randomized Controlled Trial and Implementation Outcomes

Ted Kheng Siang Ng, Lei Feng, Johnson Fam, Iris Rawtaer, Alan Prem Kumar, Grishma Rane, Irwin Kee-Mun Cheah, Ratha Mahendran, Yuan Kun Lee, Ene Choo Tan, Lee Gan Goh, Ee Heok Kua and Rathi Mahendran
Additional contact information
Ted Kheng Siang Ng: Department of Psychological Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117597, Singapore
Lei Feng: Department of Psychological Medicine, National University Hospital, 1E Kent Ridge Road, Singapore 117599, Singapore
Johnson Fam: Department of Psychological Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117597, Singapore
Iris Rawtaer: Department of Psychiatry, Sengkang General Hospital & SingHealth Duke-NUS Centre of Memory and Cognitive Disorders, Singapore 544886, Singapore
Alan Prem Kumar: Cancer Science Institute of Singapore, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, 28 Medical Drive, Singapore 117599, Singapore
Grishma Rane: Cancer Science Institute of Singapore, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, 28 Medical Drive, Singapore 117599, Singapore
Irwin Kee-Mun Cheah: Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, 8 Medical Drive, Singapore 117597, Singapore
Ratha Mahendran: Department of Surgery, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, 1E Kent Ridge Road, Singapore 117599, Singapore
Yuan Kun Lee: Department of Microbiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, 5 Science Drive 2, Singapore 117545, Singapore
Ene Choo Tan: Division of Clinical Support Services, KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, 100 Bukit Timah Road, Singapore 229899, Singapore
Lee Gan Goh: Department of Family Medicine, National University Health System, 1E Kent Ridge Rd, Singapore 119228, Singapore
Ee Heok Kua: Department of Psychological Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117597, Singapore
Rathi Mahendran: Department of Psychological Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117597, Singapore

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 19, 1-19

Abstract: Background: With an aging population, developing non-pharmacological interventions (NPIs) to delay dementia has become critical. Apart from cognitive decline, dementia is associated with multiple pathophysiology, including increased oxidative stress, dysregulated gene expressions, cytokine, neurotrophin, and stress markers, telomere shortening, and deteriorations in brain connectivity. Although mindfulness practices have been proposed to ameliorate these biological changes, no empirical studies were conducted. We thus aimed to investigate the effects of mindfulness awareness practice (MAP) to prevent cognitive decline and improve peripheral biomarkers in community-dwelling older adults diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods/Design: This was a single-blinded and parallel-group randomized controlled trial with two arms (intervention and active control arms), conducted over nine months. A total of 60 consenting community-dwelling older adults diagnosed with MCI were planned to be randomized in a 1:1 ratio to either the MAP or the Health Education Program (HEP). Interventions were performed weekly for the initial 12 weeks, and monthly for the subsequent six months. Outcome measures were assessed at baseline, 3-month, and 9-month post-intervention by blinded assessors. Primary outcomes were neurocognitive tests, comprehensive peripheral biomarkers, and brain imaging scans. Secondary outcomes included basic health screening measures, affective symptoms, and measures of physical functions. Linear-mixed models were used to examine the effects of MAP on these outcome measures. Significance: This is the first randomized controlled trial to systematically investigate the effects of a mindfulness intervention in improving cognitive functions and various biomarkers in community-dwelling older adults diagnosed with MCI. Our findings have the potential to inform mindfulness intervention as a novel approach to delay dementia.

Keywords: mild cognitive impairment; aging; psychiatry; preclinical dementia; non-pharmacological intervention; mindfulness; health education; biomarker; neuroimaging (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/19/10205/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/19/10205/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:19:p:10205-:d:645383

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().