Background: The purpose of this study was to clarify the effect of Deep Micro Vibrotactile (DMV) stimulation on the cognitive functions in elderly people with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia. Methods: A total of 35 participants with dementia from three nursing homes, who had completed treatment with DMV stimulation at 15−40 Hz (hereinafter, 15−40 Hz DMV stimulation) for a month were recruited for this study. The subjects had received continuous 15−40 Hz DMV stimulation for 24 h a day for 1 month. We assessed the effect of the treatment on the cognitive functions (by the word list memory (WM) test, trail making test-part A (TMT-A) and part B (TMT-B), and symbol digit substitution task (SDST)) and physical functions (grip strength (GS) and usual walking speed (UWS)), by comparing the results at the baseline and after the 1-month intervention (DMV stimulation). Results: The results revealed that the performances in the WM test (p < 0.05), TMT-B (p < 0.05), and SDST (p < 0.01) improved significantly after the intervention. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that 15−40 Hz DMV stimulation is might be effective for improving the cognitive functions in elderly people with dementia. Furthermore, our novel findings showed the different effectiveness of the treatment depending on the stage of cognitive impairments.
Keywords: cognitive function; deep micro vibrotactile; dementia; elderly.