Muziek voor thuiswonende mensen met dementie en hun mantelzorgers: een gerandomiseerde studie

This study will investigate the effects of a personal music listening intervention on neuropsychiatric symptoms in home living people with dementia. The negative impact of dementia has been widely studied: psychological, behavioural and physical symptoms decrease the quality of life of both people with dementia and their caregivers. There is thus far no cure for dementia. Since most people of dementia live at home with the help of a caregiver for as long as possible, community based interventions are highly needed. Multiple studies have found that music interventions for people with dementia may reduce or delay depression, functional problems and problem behaviour in people with dementia and distress in their caregivers. Listening to personal music by people with dementia constitutes a promising non pharmacological intervention for both people with dementia and their caregivers. However, previous studies contained a number of methodological limitations. Moreover, evidence regarding the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of such interventions is limited.
The aim of the current study is to assess the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of a personal music listening intervention for people with dementia living at home, using a randomized controlled trial (RCT) design with a large sample size. The primary objective is to evaluate whether the personal music listening intervention improves neuropsychiatric symptoms of home living people with dementia compared to standard usual care.

We hypothesize an improvement of neuropsychiatric symptoms in people with dementia randomized to the intervention group compared to the control group. Furthermore, the intervention is expected to enhance mood, quality of life, daily physical and functional functioning, the use of drugs and the use of respite care or admission to a nursing home

T0 – Baseline
T1 – Intermediate measurement – after 6 weeks
T2 – Post measurement – after 12 weeks, directly after intervention
T3 – First follow-up measurement – after 18 weeks, 6 weeks after intervention
T4 – Second follow-up measurement – 1 year after inclusion

Personalized music listening