The Effect of Action Observation Training on Balance and Cognition on the Elderly with Dementia

Purpose:The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of action observation training (AOT) on the balance and cognition of the elderly with dementia.Methods: Twenty-four participants were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups (12 participants each).The 5-week intervention involved 45 minutes sessions, three times a week.Both groups did 30 minutes of general physical exercises, followed by the experimental group watching a 5 minutes video featuring functional movements and imitating them for 10 minutes.The control group watched a scenic video and did functional training for 10 minutes, mimicking the experimental group.All participants were evaluated using the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test, Functional Reaching Test (FRT), Berg's Balance Scale (BBS), and Korean version of Mini-Mental State Examination (K-MMSE) before and after the intervention.A paired t-test was conducted to compare the within-group change before and after the intervention.Two-way repeated measures ANOVA was performed to compare the between-group difference.The statistical significance level was set to p= 0.05 for all variables.Results: The experimental group showed significant within-group changes in the TUG test, FRT, BBS, and K-MMSE (p< 0.05).The control group showed a significant change in FRT and K-MMSE (p < 0.05).A significant difference was observed between the experimental group and the control group regarding the change in the TUG test, BBS, and K-MMSE after the interventions (p< 0.05). Conclusion:The findings of this study suggest that the AOT and repetition of actual movements, led to more significant improvements in balance and cognitive abilities compared to the control group that observed scenic landscapes.