Effect of rehabilitation on cognitive function of early,medium stage Alzheimer′s disease patients

Objective To investigate the efficacy of rehabilitation on improving the cognitive function,daily life ability and other aspects of patients with Alzheimer′s disease(AD) in early and medium stage.Methods 58 AD patients in early and medium stage were randomly divided into observation(n=30) and control groups(n=28).Patients in control group were treated with the basis of conventional rehabilitation during hospitalization,conventional guidance at discharged,and without any rehabilitation intervention after discharge.While patients in observation group and their caregivers were trained on memory,logic,orientation,daily living,physical capacity and other aspects either hospitalized or discharged for one year.All patients were assessed by the Clinical Dementia severity Rating scale(CDR),Mini-Mental State Examination(MMSE),Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale(WMS) and Activity of Daily Living scale(ADL) at baseline and at 1-year follow-up to assess their cognitive function and daily life ability.Results Through 1-year purposive rehabilitation,there were significant differences between the two groups in the MMSE score,ADL score,WMS score(P0.05).And the difference of evolution of the degree of dementia between them was also significant(P0.05).Conclusions For the patients with AD in early and medium stage,effective rehabilitation can improve their cognitive function,alleviate their symptoms,slow the progression of the disease and enhance their survival and quality of life.