Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29550981›Full record

Trial reportNeurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology2018

Combining drug and music therapy in patients with moderate Alzheimer's disease: a randomized study.

Anna Rita Giovagnoli, Valentina Manfredi, Letizia Schifano, Chiara Paterlini, Annalisa Parente, Fabrizio Tagliavini

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
26citing papers in PubMed, 7 pooled it
5.7field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

26 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 64 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. How can social cognition be improved in neurological patients? a systematic review.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2026
    Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Music-based therapeutic interventions for people with dementia.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025
    Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Pooled it
  7. Pooled it
  8. Memantine effects on auditory discrimination and training in schizophrenia patients.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2020
    Trial
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Review
  12. Article
  13. Multifaceted Music Therapy for Depression in Dementia: A Network Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2024
    Article
  14. Review
  15. Review
  16. Review
  17. Article
  18. The promise of music therapy for Alzheimer's disease: A review.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2022
    Review
  19. Delirium in Nursing Home Residents: A Narrative Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022
    Review
  20. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Anna Rita GiovagnoliDepartment of Diagnostics and Applied Technology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milan, Italy. annarita.giovagnoli@istituto-besta.it.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5719-0998
Valentina ManfrediDepartment of Diagnostics and Applied Technology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milan, Italy.
Letizia SchifanoDepartment of Diagnostics and Applied Technology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milan, Italy.
Chiara PaterliniDepartment of Diagnostics and Applied Technology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milan, Italy.
Annalisa ParenteDepartment of Diagnostics and Applied Technology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milan, Italy.
Fabrizio TagliaviniDepartment of Diagnostics and Applied Technology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milan, Italy.
Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta · IT

Funding

Italian Ministry of Health Current research projectLundbeck (Valby, Denmark) No profit research project
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD) can impair language, but active music therapy (AMT) and memantine (M) can improve communication. This study aimed to clarify whether adding AMT to M may improve language in comparison with drugs alone in patients with moderate AD on stable therapy with acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AchEI). Forty-five AD patients treated with stable dose of AchEI were randomized to receive AMT plus M 20 mg/day or M 20 mg/day for 24 weeks. The Severe Impairment Battery-Language (SIB-l), SIB, Mini Mental State Examination, Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI), Lubben Social Network Scale, Activities of Daily Living, and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living scores at baseline and 12 and 24 weeks assessed language (primary variable) and overall cognitive, psycho-behavior, social, and functional aspects (secondary variables). The SIB-l showed a stabilization of the baseline condition in both groups, in the absence of between-group differences. The NPI depression and appetite scores significantly improved in the M-AMT group. Moreover, significantly less patients in the M-AMT group than those in the M group showed worsening of the NPI total score. Daily activities, social relationships, and overall cognitive performance did not deteriorate. In patients with moderate AD, AMT added to pharmacotherapy has no further benefits for language in comparison with pharmacotherapy alone. However, this integrated treatment can improve the psycho-behavioral profile.

Indexed as

Music TherapyActivities of Daily LivingAgedAlzheimer DiseaseAppetiteCholinesterase InhibitorsCombined Modality TherapyDepressionFemaleHumansLanguageMaleNeuropsychological TestsSeverity of Illness IndexSingle-Blind MethodTreatment OutcomeCholinesterase InhibitorsAlzheimer’s diseaseBehavioral and psychological symptoms in dementiaCholinesterase inhibitorsLanguageMemantine

Identifiers

PMID29550981
OpenAlexW2790716651

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.