Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33346748›Full record

Trial reportAging2020

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

Lei Feng, Rafael Romero-Garcia, John Suckling, Jasmine Tan, Anis Larbi, Irwin Cheah, Glenn Wong, Maurine Tsakok, Bernard Lanskey, Darius Lim and 20 more

Open access · hybridAbstract readComparative StudyRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Aging, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
17citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
3.1field-weighted citation impact, top 8% 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

17 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 44 citations in OpenAlex.

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  6. The singapore dementia prevention programme: Ten years on and looking ahead.The journal of prevention of Alzheimer's disease · 2025
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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

30 authors at 10 institutions in 4 countries.

Lei FengDepartment of Psychological Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Rafael Romero-GarciaDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, UK.
John SucklingDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, UK.
Jasmine TanDepartment of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK.
Anis LarbiBiology of Aging Laboratory, Singapore Immunology Network, Singapore.
Irwin CheahDepartment of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Glenn WongBiology of Aging Laboratory, Singapore Immunology Network, Singapore.
Maurine TsakokMaurine Tsakok Inc, Singapore.
Bernard LanskeyYong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Darius LimDarius Lim, Voices of Singapore Choral Society, Singapore.
Jialiang LiDepartment of Statistics and Applied Probability, Faculty of Science, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Joanna YangDepartment of Psychological Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Benjamin GohDepartment of Psychological Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Tristan Gwee Chen TeckPresbyterian Community Services, Singapore.
Allan HoNTUC Health Co-operative Limited, Singapore.
Xiu WangBeijing Chui Yang Liu Hospital, Beijing, PR China.
Jin-Tai YuDepartment of Neurology and Institute of Neurology, Huashan Hospital, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Can ZhangGenetics and Aging Research Unit, McCance Center for Brain Health, MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA.
Crystal TanBiology of Aging Laboratory, Singapore Immunology Network, Singapore.
Michelle ChuaBiology of Aging Laboratory, Singapore Immunology Network, Singapore.
Junhua LiSchool of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, University of Essex, UK.
John J TotmanClinical Imaging Research Centre, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Caroline WongClinical Imaging Research Centre, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Marie LohLee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore.
Roger FooCardiovascular Research Institute, National University Health Systems, Singapore.
Chay Hoon TanDepartment of Psychological Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Lee Gan GohDivision of Family Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Rathi MahendranDepartment of Psychological Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Brian K KennedyCentre for Healthy Longevity, National University Health System, Singapore, Singapore.
Ee-Heok KuaDepartment of Psychological Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
National University of Singapore · SGImperial College London · GBSingapore Immunology Network · SGUniversity of Cambridge · GBDuke-NUS Medical School · SGGoldsmiths University of London · GBHuashan Hospital · CNMassachusetts General Hospital · USNational University Health System · SGUniversity of Essex · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

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,

Indexed as

SingingAgedAgingBrainCognitive DysfunctionFemaleHealth EducationHumansImmunosenescenceMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleMiddle AgedMusic TherapyNeuropsychological TestsOxidative StressSingaporebiological markerschoral singingcognitive declinehealth educationrandomized controlled trial

Identifiers

PMID33346748
PMCPMC7803497
OpenAlexW3116548597

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.