Electronic Training of Elderly Depression With Cognitive Impairment

Research on Standardized Electronic Cognitive Training Technique in Early Stage of Senile Depression With Cognitive Impairment

late-life depression (LLD) is the most common mental illness in the elderly. Due to the increasing prevalence of population aging, it has become one of the important factors affecting the quality of life of the elderly. 50-70% of elderly patients with depression are accompanied by different degrees of cognitive impairment.

Elderly patients with depression with cognitive impairment have a greater risk of dementia conversion, a worse prognosis and a higher recurrence rate. Therefore, it is urgent to provide evidence-based early intervention strategies for geriatric depression with cognitive impairment. At present, domestic and foreign guidelines do not provide clear and effective treatment plans for elderly patients with depression with cognitive impairment, and clinical research and practice also lack evidence-based treatment methods. Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), the most commonly used antidepressants, do not significantly improve the cognitive impairment of elderly patients with depression, and may even aggravate the cognitive impairment of elderly patients with depression. The overall efficacy and tolerability of drug therapy in elderly patients with depression and cognitive impairment are poor. Studies have confirmed that Cognitive training can significantly improve the overall Cognitive function and multiple Cognitive domains of healthy elderly people, patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Previous studies have also preliminarily confirmed the cognitive improvement effect of cognitive training on elderly patients with depression, which provides a new idea for clinical diagnosis and treatment. Therefore, based on the urgent clinical needs and preliminary work, the development and clinical validation of a set of standardized cognitive training methods suitable for elderly patients with depression and cognitive impairment will be conducive to improve the overall efficacy of elderly patients with depression, improve the prognosis of patients, and save health resources.

Inclusion Criteria:

1. The patients and their family members signed the written informed consent
2. Age ≥60 years old
3. Meet the diagnostic criteria for single or recurrent major depressive disorder in the diagnostic and Statistical Manual of mental disorders Fourth Edition (DSM-V)
4. Currently in the acute phase, HAMD-17 total score at baseline ≥ 18 points
5. There are symptoms of cognitive impairment, Montreal Cognitive Assessment scale (Montreal Cognitive Assessment scale, MoCA) <26 points
6. Education level above primary school.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Patients with history of epilepsy or coronary heart disease or other serious unstable physical diseases
2. Participated in another intervention clinical study in the past 1 month
3. The following mental diseases have been or are currently diagnosed by DSM-V: organic mental disorder, Alzheimer's disease, secondary dementia caused by other causes, schizophrenia, schizophrenic affective disorder, bipolar disorder, delusional disorder, undefined mental disease, patients with drug abuse history, including alcohol and active drug abuse in the past 12 months, except nicotine
4. He has been taking antidepressants, mental retardants and other psychiatric drugs for the past 2 weeks
5. Severe aphasia, visual and hearing impairment, etc. unable to complete the scale evaluation