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Comparison of dance and aerobic exercise on cognition and neuropsychiatric symptoms in sedentary older adults with cognitive impairment

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Key summary points

AbstractSection Aim

To investigate the distinctive effects of dance and aerobic exercise on cognitive function, neuropsychiatric symptoms, and functional abilities in older people with cognitive impairment.

AbstractSection Findings

The dance intervention significantly improved cognitive function, particularly memory recall. Both dance and aerobic exercise reduced depression and neuropsychiatric symptoms.

AbstractSection Message

It is important that dancing be practiced in senior facilities in the same way as aerobic exercise (commonly known as “gymnastique douce” in France) because of its positive effect on cognition.

Abstract

Background

To compare the effects of dance and aerobic exercise on cognition and neuropsychiatric symptoms in older people with cognitive impairment.

Methods

Twenty-three older adults (mean age = 78 ± 7 years; males: n = 7, females: n = 16) attending a day care center and diagnosed with cognitive impairment were randomly assigned to a 16-week dance intervention or an aerobic exercise intervention (60 min/week). Cognitive function [Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE)], neuropsychiatric symptoms [Geriatric Depression Scale-15 (GDS-15), Neuro-Psychiatric Inventory-R (NPI-R)], and physical function [Timed Up and Go (TUG), Activity Daily Living (ADL)] were assessed at baseline and at the end of the intervention. After Borg scale assessment, these two physical activities were performed at similar intensity (60–70% HRR).

Results

MMSE score increased significantly after the intervention in the dance group (+ 3.3/+ 14%, p = 0.03), especially memory performance (+1/+220%, p = 0.03), but not in the aerobic exercise group. GDS-15 and NPI-R decreased significantly after the intervention in both groups (p < 0.001). However, no significant effect was found for TUG and ADL.

Conclusion

Dance is a cost-effective multimodal intervention that could improve cognition. A low-frequency ecological dance intervention (once per week; 60 min) could improve cognition, especially verbal memory. These results should be further investigated for the practice of dance in facilities for older adults.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the day care center “Aidants Alzheimer 83” for their participation and cooperation. Our special thanks to the invaluable help and professionalism of the neuropsychologist and deputy director Damien Gery. We also acknowledge the contribution of the physician Bernard Lefebvre.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire IAPS, Impact de l’Activité Physique sur la Santé, Toulon, Université de Toulon, La Garde, France

    Sawsen Ayari, Raymond Bou Nader & Olivier Gavarry

  2. Laboratoire IMSIC, Institut Méditerranéen des Sciences de l’Information et de la Communication, Université de Toulon, La Garde, France

    Alexandre Abellard

  3. Association de promotion en Recherches Cliniques et Innovation pour la Santé (ARCIS), Toulon, France

    Sihem Sakrani, Anastasia Krinitskaia & Marta Grzelak

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  1. Sawsen Ayari
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Contributions

SA conceived and designed the research, AK and MG performed the methodology/experiments, AA supervised the experiments and assessments, SA, RB, and OG analyzed the data, SA wrote the manuscript, SS revised the draft, and OG supervised and validated the design, experiments, assessments, and results. All the authors read and approved the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sawsen Ayari.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare no competing interests. No grant is required.

Ethical approval

This prospective intervention study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee at STAPS University of Toulon (IRB00012476-2021-30-09-127), France, in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

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All participants provided written informed consent before participating in the study.

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Ayari, S., Abellard, A., Sakrani, S. et al. Comparison of dance and aerobic exercise on cognition and neuropsychiatric symptoms in sedentary older adults with cognitive impairment. Eur Geriatr Med 14, 1289–1299 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41999-023-00849-z

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