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Efficacy and Moderators of Virtual Reality for Cognitive Training in People with Dementia and Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Papaioannou T, Voinescu A, Petrini K, Stanton Fraser D.. Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD, 2022-01-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Background Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia result in cognitive decline which can negatively impact everyday functional abilities and quality of life. Virtual reality (VR) interventions could benefit the cognitive abilities of people with MCI and dementia, but evidence is inconclusive. Objective To investigate the efficacy of VR training on global and domain-specific cognition, activities of daily living and quality of life. To explore the influence of priori moderators (e.g., immersion type, training type) on the effects of VR training. Adverse effects of VR training were also considered. Methods A systematic literature search was conducted on all major databases for randomized control trial studies. Two separate meta-analyses were performed on studies with people with MCI and dementia. Results Sixteen studies with people with MCI and four studies with people with dementia were included in each meta-analysis. Results showed moderate to large effects of VR training on global cognition, attention, memory, and construction and motor performance in people with MCI. Immersion and training type were found to be significant moderators of the effect of VR training on global cognition. For people with dementia, results showed moderate to large improvements after VR training on global cognition, memory, and executive function, but a subgroup analysis was not possible. Conclusion Our findings suggest that VR training is an effective treatment for both people with MCI and dementia. These results contribute to the establishment of practical guidelines for VR interventions for patients with cognitive decline.
Key findings
- Background Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia result in cognitive decline which can negatively impact everyday functional abilities and quality of life.
- Results Sixteen studies with people with MCI and four studies with people with dementia were included in each meta-analysis.
- Results showed moderate to large effects of VR training on global cognition, attention, memory, and construction and motor performance in people with MCI.
- Immersion and training type were found to be significant moderators of the effect of VR training on global cognition.
- For people with dementia, results showed moderate to large improvements after VR training on global cognition, memory, and executive function, but a subgroup analysis was not possible.
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Study details
- Study designmeta-analysis
- Evidence strengthHigh
How this study scored 67/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a meta-analysis pooling many studies. Scored zero for sample size, effect reported and studied in people because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 39 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 67 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 12 / 12 | A meta-analysis pooling many studies |
| Strength of evidence | 5 / 5 | Rated “high” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 3 / 5 | 2022 — within 6 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | A review of other studies — randomisation is not credited here |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 35811514) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 39 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 39 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 67 out of 100. |
| Total | 67 / 100 | — |
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APA 7th
Papaioannou, T., Voinescu, A., Petrini, K., & Stanton Fraser, D. (2022). Efficacy and Moderators of Virtual Reality for Cognitive Training in People with Dementia and Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD. https://doi.org/10.3233/jad-210672
Vancouver
Papaioannou T, Voinescu A, Petrini K, Stanton Fraser D. Efficacy and Moderators of Virtual Reality for Cognitive Training in People with Dementia and Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD. 2022. doi:10.3233/jad-210672. PMID: 35811514.
BibTeX
@article{papaioannou2022-35811514,
author = {Papaioannou, T. and Voinescu, A. and Petrini, K. and Stanton Fraser, D.},
title = {{Efficacy and Moderators of Virtual Reality for Cognitive Training in People with Dementia and Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis}},
journal = {Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD},
year = {2022},
doi = {10.3233/jad-210672},
pmid = {35811514},
url = {https://doi.org/10.3233/jad-210672}
}