NCT01103453

Change in Executive Function and IADL Using a Virtual Supermarket Environment Among People With MCI

Change in Executive Functions and in Instrumental Activities of Daily Living as a Result of Intervention by Virtual Supermarket Environment Among People With Mild Cognitive Impairment.

• Status: Unknown
• Phase: Phase 1
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 10 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Carmel Medical Center · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 60 Years – 90 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The aim of the study is to investigate the feasibility of using a virtual supermarket as an intervention tool for overcoming deficits in executive function as well as enhancing IADL performance among persons with Mild Cognitive Impairment. The working hypotheses are that there will be improvement in executive functions, and the improvement in the executive functions will result in better performance in Instrumental Activities of Daily Living, both generally and especially in shopping task

Detailed description

Scientific and clinical research in the area of Alzheimer's disease (AD) during the last years have shifted their focus to earlier diagnosis and especially to the transitional phase between normal aging and dementia, named Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI).Lately, the concept of MCI has been expanded to address observed clinical heterogeneity, and subtypes were recognized: amnestic (including memory impairment) and non-amnestic (including impairment in other non-memory cognitive domains), with the later including deficits in executive functioning Executive functions (EF) are defined as higher order functions that are needed for completing complex or non-routine tasks. Deficits in EF refer to a collection of deficits in attention, planning, problem-solving, multitasking, monitoring and behavioral control and persons who suffer from impairments in EF typically have difficulty in initiating or suspending activities, show impaired mental flexibility, as well as increased distractibility and have difficulty in learning novel tasks despite apparently intact cognitive abilities. Lately, an increasing amount of studies suggest that persons with MCI might have deficits in EF, moreover, persons presenting a combination of executive deficits and memory deficits were found to be a high risk group for conversion to AD.

Conditions

• Mild Cognitive Impairment
• Lack of Physical Activity

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Virtual Action Planning Supermarket (VAP-S) Software	The VAP-S simulates a supermarket with multiple aisles displaying items. Several obstacles are designed to hinder the progression of the shopper along the aisles. In addition, virtual humans populate the supermarket. The VAP-S is designed so that the user enters the supermarket behind the cart and navigates within the supermarket via the keyboard keys. He is thus able to experience the environment personally without any intermediate. The task is to purchase 7 items from a list, proceed to the cashier and pay for them. We propose 9 sessions of 45 minutes. The results will be analyzed to develop goals for intervention, together with the client to study his awareness of his performance of IADL and Executive functions and to enhance his motivation to participate in the intervention.

Timeline

• Start date: 2010-11-01
• Primary completion: 2011-11-01
• Completion: 2012-05-01
• First posted: 2010-04-14
• Last updated: 2011-07-21

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Israel