Abstract
Background: Improving the quality of care for people with dementia and their carers has become a national
priority in many countries. Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (CST) groups can be beneficial in improving cognition
and quality of life for people with dementia. The aim of the current study is to develop and evaluate a home-based
individual Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (iCST) programme for people with dementia which can be delivered by
their family carer.
Methods: This multi-centre, pragmatic randomised controlled trial (RCT) will compare the effectiveness and
cost-effectiveness of iCST for people with dementia with a treatment as usual control group. The intervention
consists of iCST sessions delivered by a carer for 30 minutes, 3 times a week over 25 weeks.
For people with dementia the primary outcome measures are cognition assessed by the ADAS-Cog, and quality of
life assessed by QoL-AD. For carers, quality of life using the SF-12 is the primary outcome measure. Using a 5%
significance level, comparison of 306 participants will yield 80% power to detect an effect size of 0.35 for cognition
as measured by the ADAS-Cog, and quality of life as measured by the QoL-AD. Quality of life for the carer will be
measured using the SF-12. The trial will include a cost-effectiveness analysis from a public sector perspective.
Discussion: The UK Department of Health has recently stressed that improving access to psychological therapies is
a national priority, but many people with dementia are unable to access psychological interventions. The
development of a home-based individual version of CST will provide an easy to use, widely available therapy
package that will be evaluated for effectiveness and cost-effectiveness in a multi centre RC
priority in many countries. Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (CST) groups can be beneficial in improving cognition
and quality of life for people with dementia. The aim of the current study is to develop and evaluate a home-based
individual Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (iCST) programme for people with dementia which can be delivered by
their family carer.
Methods: This multi-centre, pragmatic randomised controlled trial (RCT) will compare the effectiveness and
cost-effectiveness of iCST for people with dementia with a treatment as usual control group. The intervention
consists of iCST sessions delivered by a carer for 30 minutes, 3 times a week over 25 weeks.
For people with dementia the primary outcome measures are cognition assessed by the ADAS-Cog, and quality of
life assessed by QoL-AD. For carers, quality of life using the SF-12 is the primary outcome measure. Using a 5%
significance level, comparison of 306 participants will yield 80% power to detect an effect size of 0.35 for cognition
as measured by the ADAS-Cog, and quality of life as measured by the QoL-AD. Quality of life for the carer will be
measured using the SF-12. The trial will include a cost-effectiveness analysis from a public sector perspective.
Discussion: The UK Department of Health has recently stressed that improving access to psychological therapies is
a national priority, but many people with dementia are unable to access psychological interventions. The
development of a home-based individual version of CST will provide an easy to use, widely available therapy
package that will be evaluated for effectiveness and cost-effectiveness in a multi centre RC
| Original language | English |
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| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Aug 2015 |