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Effects of choral singing versus health education on cognitive decline and aging: a randomized controlled trial.

Feng, L., Romero-Garcia, R., Suckling, J., Tan, J., Larbi, A., Cheah, I., Wong, G., Tsakok, M., Lanskey, B., Lim, D., Li, J., Yang, J., Goh, B., Teck, T.G.C., Ho, A., Wang, X., Yu, J-T., Zhang, C., Tan, C., Chua, M., Li, J., Totman, J. J., Wong, C., Loh, M., Foo, R., Tan, C.H., Goh, L.G., Mahendran, R., Kennedy, B.K. and Kua, E-H., 2020. Effects of choral singing versus health education on cognitive decline and aging: a randomized controlled trial. Aging, 12 (24), 24798 - 24816.

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DOI: 10.18632/aging.202374

Abstract

We conducted a randomized controlled trial to examine choral singing's effect on cognitive decline in aging. Older Singaporeans who were at high risk of future dementia were recruited: 47 were assigned to choral singing intervention (CSI) and 46 were assigned to health education program (HEP). Participants attended weekly one-hour choral singing or weekly one-hour health education for two years. Change in cognitive function was measured by a composite cognitive test score (CCTS) derived from raw scores of neuropsychological tests; biomarkers included brain magnetic resonance imaging, oxidative damage and immunosenescence. The average age of the participants were 70 years and 73/93 (78.5%) were female. The change of CCTS from baseline to 24 months was 0.05 among participants in the CSI group and -0.1 among participants in the HEP group. The between-group difference (0.15, p=0.042) became smaller (0.12, p=0.09) after adjusting for baseline CCTS. No between-group differences on biomarkers were observed. Our data support the role of choral singing in improving cognitive health in aging. The beneficial effect is at least comparable than that of health education in preventing cognitive decline in a community of elderly people. Biological mechanisms underlying the observed efficacy should be further studied.

Item Type:Article
ISSN:1945-4589
Uncontrolled Keywords:biological markers; choral singing; cognitive decline; health education; randomized controlled trial; Aged; Aging; Brain; Cognitive Dysfunction; Female; Health Education; Humans; Immunosenescence; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Middle Aged; Music Therapy; Neuropsychological Tests; Oxidative Stress; Singapore; Singing
Group:Faculty of Health & Social Sciences
ID Code:36367
Deposited By: Symplectic RT2
Deposited On:13 Dec 2021 09:38
Last Modified:14 Mar 2022 14:31

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