Making global impact on dementia prevention and intervention

CITE work featured in the world's leading dementia report

The 2020 report of the Lancet Commission on Dementia Prevention, Intervention and Care has highlighted a recent systematic overview of cognitive interventions led by the CITE group to support for the first time the efficacy of cognitive training in older adults. Published July 30, the report reviewed the most recent research on dementia prevention and intervention, concluding that up 40% of dementia cases could be delayed or prevented by targeting modifiable risk factors.

Citing our paper "Cognition-oriented treatments for older adults: A systematic overview of systematic reviews" (Neuropsychology Review 2020, 30(2):167-193), the Lancet commission wrote:

"A comprehensive, high quality, systematic overview of meta-analyses of cognitive training in healthy older people, those with mild cognitive impairment and those with dementia, found that most were of low standard, were positive and most reached statistical significance but it was unclear whether results were of clinical value because of the poor standard of the studies and heterogeneity of result"

Moreover, the 34-page commission report included a whole-page reproduction of the main figure from our paper, which summarised the results of 46 meta-analyses of cognition-oriented treatments in older adults. While our figure suggests that cognitive training might confer cognitive benefits for cognitively healthy older adults as well as those with mild cognitive impairment, Parkinson disease or dementia, it highlights the need for improve the quality and clinical applicability of meta-analyses in the field.

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Other meta-analyses from our group cited in this review are:

Bahar‐Fuchs A, Martyr A, Goh AMY, Sabates J, Clare L (2019). Cognitive training for people with mild to moderate dementia. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 3(3):CD013069. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD013069.pub2

Hill N, Mowszowski L, Naismith S, Chadwick V, Valenzuela M, Lampit A (2017). Computerized Cognitive Training in Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment or Dementia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. The American Journal of Psychiatry 174:329-340. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2016.16030360