Effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Aerobic Exercise in Parkinson Disease Dementia: A Pilot Study

Purpose: Parkinson disease is a prevalent neurodegenerative illness of the central nervous system that causes significant disability.Neurological and memory impairments are hallmarks of dementia, which has significant therapeutic implications for patients with Parkinson disease and is associated with elevated mortality.Non-motor symptoms, in addition to the traditional motor symptoms, were commonly acknowledged components of the clinical picture.Cognitive decline, including problems with memory and attention, was a crucial feature of the disease since it adds a great deal of burden to both the patient and caretakers.So, this study aims to find the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy and aerobic exercise on the attention and memory in Parkinson disease dementia.Methods: A pilot study was conducted with 30 patients diagnosed with Parkinson disease dementia who had mild to moderate impairments in cognitive functions such as attention and memory.The participants were randomly divided into two groups, and the study was conducted in a private setting.Group A (n=15) received cognitive behavioral therapy, and group B (n=15) received aerobic exercise for 6 weeks daily for 30 minutes.Parkinson disease-cognitive rating scale and mini-mental state examination were used as outcome measures. Results:Cognitive behavioral therapy demonstrated a significantly greater improvement in cognitive functions than aerobic exercise (P<0.001),evidenced by paired and unpaired t-tests. Conclusion:The study concluded that cognitive behavioral therapy significantly outperforms aerobic exercise in enhancing attention and memory in dementia associated with Parkinson disease.These findings highlight the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral techniques as a key therapeutic intervention for improving cognitive function in this population.