Effect of home-based group conversation intervention using smartphone application on cognitive health and psychological well-being of older adults with subjective cognitive concerns in Japan: a randomized controlled trial protocol

Kumi Watanabe Miura; Seiki Tokunaga; Takuya Sekiguchi; Hikaru Sugimoto; Mihoko Otake-Matsuura

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1114790

Effect of home-based group conversation intervention using smartphone application on cognitive health and psychological well-being of older adults with subjective cognitive concerns in Japan: a randomized controlled trial protocol

Front Psychol. 2023 May 16:14:1114790. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1114790. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Kumi Watanabe Miura^{1

2}, Seiki Tokunaga¹, Takuya Sekiguchi¹, Hikaru Sugimoto¹, Mihoko Otake-Matsuura¹

Affiliations

¹ Cognitive Behavioral Assistive Technology Team, RIKEN Center for Advanced Intelligence Project, Tokyo, Japan.
² Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo, Japan.

Abstract

Background: Social activity is a key component in the prevention of cognitive decline. However, face-to-face social intervention has limited accessibility. To address this issue, we developed the "Photo-Integrated Conversation Moderated by Application" (PICMOA), a home-based group conversation intervention using smartphones. This paper introduces the PICMOA intervention and the protocol of the ongoing randomized controlled trial (RCT), which aims to evaluate the effects of PICMOA on the cognitive functioning and psychological well-being of Japanese community dwelling older adults at the risk of cognitive function decline.

Methods: This study uses an RCT design in two parallel group trials with 1:1 allocation. The participants are community dwelling older adults aged 65 years and above, living in an urban city in Japan, with subjective cognitive concerns. In total, 81 participants were allocated to the intervention or control groups. The intervention group receives 30 min of weekly PICMOA sessions at their home for 12 weeks. The PICMOA intervention consists of (1) a photo preparation period before the session and (2) a structured group conversation session talking about the photos that participants took according to a specific theme. The control group receives 30 min of weekly health education videos on a tablet device. The primary outcome is cognitive functioning at pre- and post-phases of the 12-week intervention measured using the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status in Japanese, semantic and phonemic fluency tests, and the Digit Span Forward and Backward tests. The secondary outcomes are psychological and social aspects including mental status, well-being, loneliness, and social support.

Discussion: Interest is growing in internet-based activities for preventing social isolation. However, the effect of remote conversation interventions on cognitive functioning remains unclear. This study addresses this issue and provides a new avenue of social participation for older adults.

Clinical trial registration: https://www.umin.ac.jp/ctr/, identifier: UMIN000047247.

Keywords: cognitive health; communication technology; mobile applications; randomized controlled trial; social isolation.

Grants and funding

This work is supported by JSPS KAKENHI (Grant Numbers: 22H00544 and 22H04872), Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows (21J01494), and the Japan Science and Technology Agency (Grant Numbers: JPMJCR20G1, JPMJPF2101, and JPMJMS2237). The funding sources have no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, writing of the report, and the decision to submit the article for publication.