Objectives: With the increasing aging of the population worldwide, cognitive disorders have become a vital factor that affects the health and quality of life of the older adults. Several studies have been conducted on the effectiveness of computer and classical cognitive interventions on improving the cognitive functions in older adults. The aim of the present study was a comprehensive summary of the effect of computerized and classical cognitive interventions on the cognitive functions of healthy older adults, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in Iran.
Methods & Materials: Using the keywords "cognitive rehabilitation", "cognitive stimulation", "cognitive training", "software", "computer", "computer games", "cognitive functions", "executive functions", "attention", "memory", "aged", "aging", "older adults", "elderly", "mild cognitive impairment", "Alzheimer's disease", studies published from 2012 to 2023 were searched in the databases of Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, Scientific Information Database (SID), Comprehensive Portal of Humanities, Iranian Research Institute for Information Science and Technology (IranDoc). A total of 712 studies were retrieved, and after review, 26 studies that met the inclusion criteria of the present systematic review were meta-analyzed using the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis 2.0 (CMA) software. The standardized mean differences were calculated as Hedges' g and the 95% confidence interval (CI) of the difference in the results between the experimental group and control group after the intervention. Pooling of standardized mean differences across studies was performed using a random effects model.
Results: The results of meta-analysis showed that computerized and classical cognitive interventions had a positive and high effect on improving cognitive functions (g=1.57; 95%, CI=1.33-1.81; P<0.001) of Iranian older adults. Also, the subgroup analysis showed that computerized cognitive interventions were slightly more effective than classical cognitive interventions in improving the cognitive functions of older adults.
Conclusion: The results of the present study showed that it is possible to benefit from computerized and classical cognitive interventions to reduce cognitive deficits and improve the cognitive functions of Iranian older adults. Therefore, computerized and classical cognitive interventions can be used as very important and effective treatments in the field of cognitive health of older adults.
