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Reminiscence therapy for dementia
Woods B, O'Philbin L, Farrell EM, Spector AE, Orrell M.. The Cochrane database of systematic reviews, 2018-03-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
We undertook subgroup analysis by setting (community versus care home) and by modality (individual versus group). We used GRADE methods to assess the overall quality of evidence for each outcome. Main results We included 22 studies involving 1972 people with dementia. Apart from six studies with risk of selection bias, the overall risk of bias in the studies was low.Overall, moderate quality evidence indicated RT did not have an important effect on QoL immediately after the intervention period compared with no treatment (standardised mean difference (SMD) 0.11, 95% confidence interval (CI) -0.12 to 0.33; I 2 = 59%; 8 studies; 1060 participants). There was probably a slight benefit in favour of RT in care homes post-treatment (SMD 0.46, 95% CI 0.18 to 0.75; 3 studies; 193 participants), but little or no difference in QoL in community settings (867 participants from five studies).For cognitive measures, there was high quality evidence for a very small benefit, of doubtful clinical importance, associated with reminiscence at the end of treatment (SMD 0.11, 95% CI 0.00 to 0.23; 14 studies; 1219 participants), but little or no difference at longer-term follow-up. For care home participants, the results were inconsistent between studies and, while there may be an improvement at follow-up, at the end of treatment the evidence quality was very low and effects were uncertain.Other outcome domains examined for people with dementia included mood, functioning in daily activities, agitation/irritability and relationship quality. Individual reminiscence was probably associated with a slight benefit on depression scales, although its clinical importance was uncertain (SMD -0.41, 95% CI -0.76 to -0.06; 4 studies; 131 participants). We found no evidence of any harmful effects on people with dementia.We also looked at outcomes for carers, including stress, mood and quality of relationship with the person with dementia (from the carer's perspective). We found no evidence of effects on carers other than a potential adverse outcome related to carer anxiety at longer-term follow-up, based on two studies that had involved the carer jointly in reminiscence groups with people with dementia. The control group carers were probably slightly less anxious (MD 0.56 points, 95% CI -0.17 to 1.30; 464 participants), but this result is of uncertain clinical importance, and is also consistent with little or no effect. Individual RT is associated with probable benefits for cognition and mood.
Key findings
- We undertook subgroup analysis by setting (community versus care home) and by modality (individual versus group).
- We used GRADE methods to assess the overall quality of evidence for each outcome.
- Main results We included 22 studies involving 1972 people with dementia.
- Apart from six studies with risk of selection bias, the overall risk of bias in the studies was low.Overall, moderate quality evidence indicated RT did not have an important effect on QoL immediately after the intervention period compared with no treatment (standardised mean difference (SMD) 0.11, 95% confidence interval (CI) -0.12 to 0.33; I 2 = 59%; 8 studies; 1060 participants).
- There was probably a slight benefit in favour of RT in care homes post-treatment (SMD 0.46, 95% CI 0.18 to 0.75; 3 studies; 193 participants), but little or no difference in QoL in community settings (867 participants from five studies).For cognitive measures, there was high quality evidence for a very small benefit, of doubtful clinical importance, associated with reminiscence at the end of treatment (SMD 0.11, 95% CI 0.00 to 0.23; 14 studies; 1219 participants), but little or no difference at longer-term follow-up.
Why it matters
This Cochrane review pooled 22 studies of 1,972 people with dementia. It found that reminiscence therapy made no important difference to quality of life overall and only a very small, short-lived difference to thinking. It probably helped quality of life slightly in care homes, and one-to-one sessions were "probably associated with a slight benefit on depression scales". No harms to people with dementia were found, but carers who joined joint reminiscence groups showed a possible, uncertain rise in anxiety later on.
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Study details
- Study designmeta-analysis
- Participants22
- Evidence strengthHigh
How this study scored 75/100
Published in a leading specialty journal, and it is a meta-analysis pooling many studies. Scored zero for effect reported because the record does not state it. We have no data on times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here and still being cited, so those were left out: it earned 54 of the 72 points we could judge it on, which is 75 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (The Cochrane database of systematic reviews) |
| Journal's citation record | 3 / 4 | Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews: journal h-index 468 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| 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 | 2 / 5 | 2018 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 1 / 4 | 22 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | A review of other studies — randomisation is not credited here |
| Times cited | — / 7 | Citation count not trusted: 2 of 11 library studies citing it were published more than a year before it - a sign OpenAlex merged several works under this DOI — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | Citation count not trusted (see above) — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | Citation count not trusted (see above) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Library citations not trusted (see above) — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | Citation count not trusted (see above) — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Martin William Orrell: h-index 88 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | University College London: institution h-index 2,029 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 4 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 29493789) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 54 / 72 | Scored on 15 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 54 of the 72 points we could judge it on is 75 out of 100. |
| Total | 75 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.1002/14651858.cd001120.pub3
- PubMed: 29493789
- Original source →
- Free full text: Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Woods, B., O'Philbin, L., Farrell, E. M., Spector, A. E., & Orrell, M. (2018). Reminiscence therapy for dementia. The Cochrane database of systematic reviews. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.cd001120.pub3
Vancouver
Woods B, O'Philbin L, Farrell EM, Spector AE, Orrell M. Reminiscence therapy for dementia. The Cochrane database of systematic reviews. 2018. doi:10.1002/14651858.cd001120.pub3. PMID: 29493789.
BibTeX
@article{woods2018-29493789,
author = {Woods, B. and O'Philbin, L. and Farrell, E. M. and Spector, A. E. and Orrell, M.},
title = {{Reminiscence therapy for dementia}},
journal = {The Cochrane database of systematic reviews},
year = {2018},
doi = {10.1002/14651858.cd001120.pub3},
pmid = {29493789},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.cd001120.pub3}
}
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