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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Public Mental Health
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1569709
This article is part of the Research Topic The Intersection of Psychology, Healthy Behaviors, and its Outcomes View all 75 articles
Are mind-body therapies beneficial for older people with dementia? A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Provisionally accepted
Zhengyang Mei 1
Chenyi Cai 1
Tingfeng Wang 2
Yuanzhuo Zhang 1
Wen Zhao 1
Lam ChiFong 1
Shulai Luo 1
Yu Shi 1
Shi Luo 1*- 1 Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- 2 Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality, China
Objective: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the potential multidomain benefits of mind-body therapies (MBTs) for behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) in older people with dementia (OPWD).Methods: Relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were identified using electronic databases and manual searches. Two independent researchers evaluated the risk of bias in the included trials using the Revised Cochrane Risk-of-Bias tool for randomized trials. A standardized mean difference (SMD) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to combine effect sizes.Results: This review included 35 RCTs comprising 4,043 patients, of whom 24 were included in the meta-analyses. MBTs effectively improved BPSD (SMD = -0.33; 95% CI -0.49 to -0.16; p < 0.01), anxiety (SMD = -0.82; 95% CI -1.53 to -0.10; p = 0.02), and depression (SMD = -0.57; 95% CI -1.06 to -0.08; p = 0.02), with no significant improvements observed in agitation (SMD = -0.09; 95% CI -0.25 to 0.07; p = 0.27) among patients with dementia. The certainty of evidence across the outcomes ranged from low to very low, based on the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations ratings.Effective nursing for patients with dementia is vital, as they are undergoing a major transition in their physical and mental health. In clinical practice, healthcare and social care therapists should develop personalized intervention programs based on patient individual differences and the actual dose-response relationship, which will help maximize the clinical benefits of nonpharmacological treatments in the context of limited medical resources. More high-quality RCTs could be conducted to compare the differential efficacy of non-pharmacological treatments on various aspects of BPSD in OPWD to provide a better evidence base to guide individual care and policy guidance.
Keywords: Mind-Body Therapies, older people, Dementia, Mental Health, Gerontology
Received: 01 Feb 2025; Accepted: 12 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Mei, Cai, Wang, Zhang, Zhao, ChiFong, Luo, Shi and Luo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Shi Luo, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
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