Individual Cognitive Stimulation Therapy for dementia

ISRCTN ISRCTN65945963
DOI https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN65945963
Secondary identifying numbers HTA 08/116/06
Submission date
30/04/2010
Registration date
05/05/2010
Last edited
30/03/2017
Recruitment status
No longer recruiting
Overall study status
Completed
Condition category
Mental and Behavioural Disorders
Prospectively registered
Protocol
Statistical analysis plan
Results
Individual participant data

Plain English Summary

Background and study aims
In the UK, over 700,000 older people have dementia. This leads to progressive intellectual deterioration, problems carrying out daily activities such as self-care, social isolation, and increasing difficulty interacting and communicating. Dementia also has an immense social and economic impact on health and social care services, and on family carers. Drug treatments have an important role in dementia care but in the UK they are limited to people with Alzheimer's disease with moderately severe dementia, have a limited impact on the illness, and are not suitable for all patients. Psychological treatments for dementia such as reality orientation are widely used in the UK and internationally for several decades, but there has been little high quality research on their effectiveness. There is an urgent need to find useful interventions to help reduce the impact of dementia on people with dementia, carers and society. In the UK there is increasing recognition that psychological therapies for dementia should be made more available and the National Institute of Clinical Excellence has recommended that cognitive stimulation approaches should be made widely available for people with mild to moderate dementia. A new approach known as Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (CST) has been developed and has been found to improve memory, quality of life, and cognition. CST may also potentially reduce costs of care, for example by delaying institutionalisation. We have spoken to people with dementia and their carers who are keen on having a version of CST which can be delivered by the carer, particularly for people who are unable or unwilling to go out of the house and/or to attend groups. They also felt it could help the relationship between the carer and the person with dementia. Previous research has also shown that involving carers in delivering interventions can be beneficial for both. The aim of this study is to find out whether individual home-based CST improves cognition and quality of life in people with dementia.

Who can participate?
Patients with dementia

What does the study involve?
Participants are randomly allocated to receive either usual care or individual CST sessions delivered by their caregiver. Individual CST sessions last for 30 minutes each and take place three times a week over 25 weeks. We then assess cognition, quality of life, and costs of care in both groups.

What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
Not provided at time of registration

Where is the study run from?
University College London (UCL) (UK)

When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
July 2010 to June 2014

Who is funding the study?
NIHR Health Technology Assessment Programme - HTA (UK)

Who is the main contact?
Prof Martin Orrell
m.orrell@ucl.ac.uk

Contact information

Prof Martin Orrell
Scientific

Department of Mental Health Sciences
UCL
Charles Bell House
67-73 Riding House Street
London
W1W 7EJ
United Kingdom

Email m.orrell@ucl.ac.uk

Study information

Study designMulticentre pragmatic single-blind two-arm randomised controlled clinical trial
Primary study designInterventional
Secondary study designRandomised controlled trial
Study setting(s)Home
Study typeTreatment
Participant information sheet Not available in web format, please use contact information to request a patient information
Scientific titleIndividual Cognitive Stimulation Therapy vs treatment as usual for dementia: a multicentre, single-blind, randomised controlled trial
Study acronymiCST
Study hypothesis1. Individual home-based CST (iCST) will benefit cognition and quality of life in people with dementia over six months relative to a control (treatment as usual) group
2. iCST will be cost-effective relative to treatment as usual
Ethics approval(s)Not provided at time of registration
ConditionDementia
InterventionIndividualised CST vs no treatment (control)
iCST sessions will last for 30 minutes and take place 3 times a week for 25 weeks.
Intervention typeOther
Primary outcome measure1. Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale - Cognitive subscale (ADAS-Cog) (Rosen et al., 1984)
2. Quality of Life-Alzheimer's disease Scale (QoL-AD) (Logsdon et al., 1999)
3. Short Form-12 (SF-12) (Ware, Kosinski, and Keller, 1996)
Assessments will take place at baseline (pre iCST), 13 weeks (to safeguard loss to follow-up) and 26 weeks.
Secondary outcome measures1. Client Service Receipt Inventory (Beecham & Knapp, 1992)
2. Dementia-related Quality of Life (DEMQOL) (Smith et al., 2005)
3. Behaviour
4. Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) (Cummings et al. 1994)
5. Bristol Activities of Daily Living Scale (BADLS) (Bucks et al, 1996)
6. Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) (Zigmond and Snaith, 1983)
7. EQ-5D (EuroQol group, 1990)
Assessments will take place at baseline, 13 and 26 weeks.
Overall study start date01/07/2010
Overall study end date30/06/2014

Eligibility

Participant type(s)Patient
Age groupAll
SexBoth
Target number of participants306
Participant inclusion criteria1. Meet Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th edition (DSM IV) criteria for dementia
2. Score 10 or above on the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE)
3. Some ability to communicate and understand
4. See/hear well enough to participate
5. No major physical illness or disability affecting their participation
6. Male or female, no age restrictions

Additional criteria will include living in the community and regular availability of a carer (or friend or befriender) to participate in the sessions.
Participant exclusion criteriaPeople with dementia not meeting the criteria for individual work (living in a care home, no available family carer) but who are eligible for group CST will be linked up with the trial of maintenance group CST (NIHR programme).
Recruitment start date01/07/2010
Recruitment end date30/06/2014

Locations

Countries of recruitment

  • England
  • United Kingdom

Study participating centre

University College London (UCL) (UK)
London
W1W 7EJ
United Kingdom

Sponsor information

University College London (UCL) (UK)
University/education

Gower Street
London
WC1E 6BT
England
United Kingdom

Email CTIMPS@ucl.ac.uk
ROR logo "ROR" https://ror.org/02jx3x895

Funders

Funder type

Government

NIHR Health Technology Assessment Programme - HTA (UK)

No information available

Results and Publications

Intention to publish date
Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to shareNo
IPD sharing plan summaryNot provided at time of registration
Publication and dissemination planNot provided at time of registration
IPD sharing plan

Study outputs

Output type Details Date created Date added Peer reviewed? Patient-facing?
Protocol article protocol 22/09/2012 Yes No
Results article results 06/02/2015 Yes No
Results article results 01/08/2015 Yes No
Results article results 28/03/2017 Yes No

Editorial Notes

30/03/2017: Publication reference added.
20/04/2016: Plain English summary added.
19/04/2016: Publication reference added.