TITLE:
Assessment of the Effectiveness of Hand Therapy for Elderly People with Dementia
AUTHORS:
Hiromi Toki, Hiroko Kunikata, Yurie Fujiwara, Shin Fujisawa
KEYWORDS:
Older Adults, Cognitive Impairment, Massage Therapy, Case Report
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Therapy and Rehabilitation,
Vol.10 No.1,
January
20,
2022
ABSTRACT: Background: This study evaluated the effectiveness of hand therapy for elderly
people with dementia and the change in effectiveness depending on sex
differences between the patients and operators. Methods: The Abe’s
behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia score (ABS), index of
resistance to care, and inner balance scanner scores were evaluated. Results: The mean ABS was 18.4 (before therapy), 16.0 (operator of the same sex), and
17.1 (operator of the opposite sex). The mean index scores for resistance to
care were 15.3 (before therapy), 15.2 (operator of the same sex), and 13.2 (operator
of the opposite sex). When the operator and patient were of the same sex, the
mean value of comparison of total power (TP) decreased from 28,060.4 (before
therapy) to 5974.3 (after therapy), and the mean low frequency (LF)/high
frequency (HF) ratio decreased from 1.7 (before therapy) to 1.2 (after therapy).
When the operator was of the opposite sex of that of the patient, the mean TP value decreased from
25,760.4 (before therapy) to 7669.5 (after therapy), and the mean LF/HF
ratio increased from 1.2 (before therapy) to
1.5 (after therapy). Conclusions: Hand therapy was the most effective when the patient and operator were of the same sex.