Management of the early stage of Alzheimer’s disease: a systematic review of literature over the past 10 years
V. 171 N. 4 (2020), Systematic review
V. 171 N. 4 (2020)

Management of the early stage of Alzheimer’s disease: a systematic review of literature over the past 10 years: doi: 10.7417/CT.2020.2239

Systematic review
Pubblicato 2020-07-10 — Aggiornato il 2020-09-08
R.A. Cocchiara
Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
F. De Lucia
Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
L. Koci
Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
E. Lisanti
Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
G. Petruccini
Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
G. La Torre
Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy

Versioni

PDF

Parole chiave

Alzheimer’s disease
Nursing management
Caregivers
Review

Abstract

Background
Alzheimer’s disease is the most widespread senile dementia in the world and diagnoses are on the rise due to the aging of the world’s population and this is causing a significant increase in health spending on the care of the disease. Current studies highlight the need for rapid diagnosis in order to prevent the therapeutic approach from being ineffective, and a comprehensive management of the disease, both with pharmacological and integrative therapies (safety of the environment, music therapy, diet, physical activity, recreational activities, etc.). Regarding the care provided by caregivers, the need to educate these figures is fundamental, to support them economically and psycho-socially (especially during the most difficult stages of the disease) and to provide them with technical skills to effectively and safely address the patient’s care.

Objectives
Aim of this study was to investigate the current evidence from scientific literature about the early stage of Alzheimer’s disease in order to educate and support caregivers with specific technical and practical skills.

Materials and Methods
A systematic review of the scientific literature of the last 10 years, has been conducted in September 2019 through Medline (PubMed), Scopus and Cinahl databases, in accordance with the criteria of PRISMA Statement guideline (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses). The included studies were related to Alzheimer’s disease and patients’ management.

Results
Thirty-six articles met the inclusion criteria but only for 26 of these it was possible to retrieve and access the full text.

Conclusions
The evidences from this study provide information on how to effectively address Alzheimer’s disease. The studies address different aspects of the disease, with different methodologies, thus providing heterogeneous evidence. Future studies with reproducible methodologies should be undertaken in order to achieve robustness in results.

PDF