Efficacy of ICT-based interventions in improving psychological outcomes among older adults with MCI and dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to investigate empirical evidence about the effectiveness of Information and Communication Technology-based interventions (ICTs) on different psychological outcomes in adults aged over 60 years with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) or dementia. We conducted a systematic search on Pubmed, Web of Science, Scopus, and PsycInfo with publication year between January 2010 up to April 2021. Any pre-post quantitative intervention study with at least one of the following domains examined: quality of life (QoL), psychological well-being, social interaction, engagement, mood, anxiety, stress, loneliness, self-efficacy, or self-esteem was included. Forty-eight studies with a total of 1488 participants met the selection criteria. Only anxiety (small effect size =−0.375 [−0.609; −0.140]) and behavioral symptoms (BS) (medium effect size =−0.585 [−1.019; −0.152]) in people with dementia (PwD) were found to change significantly. Moreover, effect sizes for QoL in dementia and for mood in people with MCI became significant when moderated by type of ICT, living situation, and experimental setting. In particular, Virtual Reality (VR) appeared to be more effective than other devices for both PwD and MCI, and nursing homes were found to be the best setting for administering these treatments. In general, ICT-based intervention can be considered a promising approach for improving anxiety and BS in PwD, and for improving QoL in PwD and mood in people with MCI, specifically when VR is used, when participants live in nursing homes, and when interventions are carried out in nursing homes.

Domenicucci, R., Ferrandes, F., Sarlo, M., Borella, E., & Belacchi, C. (2022). Efficacy of ICT-based interventions in improving psychological outcomes among older adults with MCI and dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Ageing Research Reviews, 82, 101781. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arr.2022.101781