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Cognitive, psychological, and physiological effects of a web-based mindfulness intervention in older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic: an open study

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Title: Cognitive, psychological, and physiological effects of a web-based mindfulness intervention in older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic: an open study
Authors: Galluzzi, Samantha, Lanfredi, Mariangela, Moretti, Davide Vito, Rossi, Roberta, Meloni, Serena, Tomasoni, Evita, Frisoni, Giovanni, Chiesa, Alberto, Pievani, Michela
Source: BMC Geriatr
BMC Geriatrics, Vol 24, Iss 1, Pp 1-16 (2024)
Publisher Information: Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2024.
Publication Year: 2024
Subject Terms: Internet, Web videoconference, Cognitive, Research, RC952-954.6, COVID-19, COVID-19 / psychology, United States, 3. Good health, 618.97, Cognition, Treatment Outcome, Geriatrics, Older adults, Videoconferencing, Psychological, Humans, EEG, Mindfulness, Pandemics, Mindfulness / methods, Stress, Psychological, Aged
Description: Background The development of effective strategies to maintain good mental health of older adults is a public health priority. Mindfulness-based interventions have the potential to improve psychological well-being and cognitive functions of older adults, but little is known about the effect of such interventions when delivered through internet. During the COVID-19 pandemic we evaluated short- and long-term cognitive, psychological, and physiological effects of a mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) delivered via web-based videoconference in healthy older adults. Methods Fifty older adults participated in an 8-week MBI, which comprised structured 2-h weekly group sessions. A comprehensive evaluation encompassing cognitive (verbal memory, attention and processing speed, executive functions) and psychological assessments (depression and anxiety symptoms, mindfulness, worries, emotion regulation strategies, well-being, interoceptive awareness and sleep) was conducted. Additionally, electroencephalography (EEG) data were recorded before and after the MBI and at the 6-month follow-up (T6). Data were analyzed using an intention-to-treat approach, using linear mixed models adjusted for age. The effect size for time was computed as omega squared. Results We observed significant improvements from pre-MBI to post-MBI and at the T6 across several measures. These improvements were notable in the areas of verbal memory (California Verbal Learning Test, p ≤ .007), attention and executive functions (Trail Making Test A and BA, p p = .0002 for self-regulation and p p = .018). These changes were associated with low to medium effect size. Moreover, we observed significant changes in EEG patterns, with a decrease in alpha1 (p = .004) and an increase in alpha2 (p p p = .025). Conclusions The results of our study show that a web-based MBI in older adults leads to improvements in cognitive and psychological measures, with associated modulations in specific brain rhythms. While these findings are promising, further controlled studies are required to validate these preliminary results. Trial registration The trial has been registered with the United States National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health Registry of Clinical Trials under the code NCT05941143 on July 12, 2023.
Document Type: Article
Other literature type
File Description: application/pdf
Language: English
ISSN: 1471-2318
DOI: 10.1186/s12877-024-04766-z
Access URL: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38350854
https://doaj.org/article/8b0a411ce01d4a48bee5378e641d089a
Rights: CC BY
URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) . The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) ) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.
Accession Number: edsair.doi.dedup.....1c78f3e3e87367e68aa7d96da4bc708f
Database: OpenAIRE
Description
Abstract:Background The development of effective strategies to maintain good mental health of older adults is a public health priority. Mindfulness-based interventions have the potential to improve psychological well-being and cognitive functions of older adults, but little is known about the effect of such interventions when delivered through internet. During the COVID-19 pandemic we evaluated short- and long-term cognitive, psychological, and physiological effects of a mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) delivered via web-based videoconference in healthy older adults. Methods Fifty older adults participated in an 8-week MBI, which comprised structured 2-h weekly group sessions. A comprehensive evaluation encompassing cognitive (verbal memory, attention and processing speed, executive functions) and psychological assessments (depression and anxiety symptoms, mindfulness, worries, emotion regulation strategies, well-being, interoceptive awareness and sleep) was conducted. Additionally, electroencephalography (EEG) data were recorded before and after the MBI and at the 6-month follow-up (T6). Data were analyzed using an intention-to-treat approach, using linear mixed models adjusted for age. The effect size for time was computed as omega squared. Results We observed significant improvements from pre-MBI to post-MBI and at the T6 across several measures. These improvements were notable in the areas of verbal memory (California Verbal Learning Test, p ≤ .007), attention and executive functions (Trail Making Test A and BA, p p = .0002 for self-regulation and p p = .018). These changes were associated with low to medium effect size. Moreover, we observed significant changes in EEG patterns, with a decrease in alpha1 (p = .004) and an increase in alpha2 (p p p = .025). Conclusions The results of our study show that a web-based MBI in older adults leads to improvements in cognitive and psychological measures, with associated modulations in specific brain rhythms. While these findings are promising, further controlled studies are required to validate these preliminary results. Trial registration The trial has been registered with the United States National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health Registry of Clinical Trials under the code NCT05941143 on July 12, 2023.
ISSN:14712318
DOI:10.1186/s12877-024-04766-z