Effect Of Arithmetic Or Drawing Writing On Communication And Cognitive Function In Patients With Mild To Moderate Dementia

Objective:1.To explore the effect of arithmetic or drawing writing on communication and cognitive function in patients with mild to moderate dementia,thereby improving the quality of life of patients with dementia and reducing the burden on caregivers.2.Through the non-pharmacological intervention study on the communication of dementia,it provides a theoretical basis for the implementation of clinical nursing,so as to arouse the attention of the community to the language communication of the demented elderly,and create a harmonious relationship between the health caregivers and the patients with dementia.Methods:1.Subjects:Forty-five mild and moderate dementia patients in a nursing home in Guznagzhou city.They were divided into arithmetic group,drawing writing group,and control group by random sampling.2.Interventions:The control group received routine care,and the experimental group received interventions for arithmetic or drawing writing on the basis of routine nursing care.Arithmetic group receivied addition and subtraction arithmetic operations and write formulas and results,drawing writing group accepted the theme painting and write a sentence.The two experimental groups received 40 minute intervention three times a week for a period of 12 weeks.3.Evaluation:The partially masked（rater）was adopted,and the effect was evaluated at the baseline and within one week after the intervention.The evaluation tools included Mini-Mental State Examination（MMSE）,the Holden Communication Scale（HCS）,the Subscales of the Functional Assessment of Communication Skills（SFACS）,and the Quality of Life-Alzheimer’s Disease（Qo L-AD）.Results:1.After 12 weeks of intervention,the scores of cognitive function in the arithmetic group were significant higher than those before the intervention and also better than that in the control group（P<0.01;P<0.01）.Drawing writing groups cognition functional scores were not significantly different from those before the intervention,but significantly higher than those of the control group（P<0.05）.2.The communication ability of HCS evaluation in arithmetic group and drawing writing group were significant improved than before intervention（P<0.01;P<0.01）,and also significant improved than that in the control group（P<0.01;P<0.01）.The functional communication‘Social Communication’and‘Basic Needs Communication’of two experimental groups also significant increased than that in control group（P<0.01;P<0.01）.3.The score of the quality of life in the arithmetic group and drawing writing group were significant improved（P<0.01;P<0.01）,also significant higher than that of the control group（P<0.01;P<0.01）.4.After the intervention,the cognitive function scores of the drawing writing group was higher than those before the intervention,but there was no statistical difference.The improvement of cognitive function scores before and after intervention in the arithmetic group were statistically significant improved（P<0.01）.There was no statistically significant difference in scores between the two experimental groups after the intervention.5.The Pearson correlation test analyzed that after 12 weeks of intervention,there was a negative correlation between cognitive function and HCS communication ability（r=-0.676,P<0.01）,and it was positively correlated with‘Social Communication’,‘Basic Needs Communication’and quality of life.（The correlation coefficients were r₁=0.647,r₂=0.558,r₃=0.686,P<0.01）.Conclusions:1.Arithmetic and drawing writing can delay the progression of cognitive impairment in patients with dementia,improve their communication skills and quality of life.2.There is a correlation between cognitive function,communication ability and quality of life.With the improvement of cognitive function,the language function in patients with dementia is also gradually improve as well as the quality of life.3.Arithmetic and drawing writing are easy to implement,materials are close to life and easily accepted,and these two methods are worth promoting in the long-term rehabilitation and nursing of Alzheimer’s disease.