Photo-Integrated Conversation Moderated by Robots for Cognitive Health in Older Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial

摘要

Abstract Background and Objectives Social interaction might prevent or delay dementia, but little is known about the specific effects of various social activity interventions on cognition. This study conducted a single-site randomized controlled trial (RCT) of Photo-Integrated Conversation moderated by a Robot (PICMOR), a group conversation intervention program for resilience against cognitive decline and dementia. Research Design and Methods In the RCT, PICMOR was compared to an unstructured group conversation condition. Sixty-five community-living older adults participated in this study. The intervention was provided once a week for 12 weeks. Primary outcome measures were the cognitive functions; process outcome measures included the linguistic characteristics of speech to estimate interaction quality. Baseline and post-intervention data were collected. PICMOR contains two key features: (i) photos taken by the participants are displayed and discussed sequentially; and (ii) a robotic moderator manages turn-taking to make sure that participants are allocated the same amount of time. Results Among the primary outcome measures (i.e., cognitive functions), verbal fluency significantly improved in the intervention group. Among the process outcome measures (i.e., linguistic characteristics of speech), the amount of speech and richness of words were larger for the intervention group. Discussion and Implications This study demonstrated for the first time the positive effects of a robotic social activity intervention on cognitive function in healthy older adults via RCT. The group conversation generated by PICMOR may improve participants’ cognitive function controlling the amount of speech produced to make it equal. PICMOR is available and accessible to community-living older adults.