Trial reportBMC geriatrics2021
The doll therapy as a first line treatment for behavioral and psychologic symptoms of dementia in nursing homes residents: a randomized, controlled study.
Trial report in BMC geriatrics, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Efficacy of Doll thErapy Compared With Standard Treatment in the Control of Behavioral and Psychologic Symptoms and CaRegIver Burden of dEmentia
Efficacy of Doll Therapy in the Control of Behavioral and psychologIcal Symptoms of Dementia in Acute Geriatric Inpatients: the AGITATE Study.
Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Interventions for mitigating occupational stress for professional dementia caregivers in residential aged care: A systematic review with meta-analysis.Dementia (London, England) · 2024Pooled it
- Staff-mediated doll therapy in Chinese residential dementia care: an exploratory pilot and feasibility mixed-methods cluster randomized clinical trial.Frontiers in public health · 2026Trial
- Measures used to evaluate psychosocial interventions in dementia care: A narrative review and synthesis.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2026Review
- Non-Pharmacological Interventions for Managing Apathy in Older Adults with Neurocognitive Disorders: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.Brain sciences · 2026Review
- The Value of Playwork for Care Home Residents Living With Dementia: A Pilot Study.Dementia (London, England) · 2026Article
- Prevalence, risk factors, and preventive interventions for delirium in older adults living at home and in residential care: a scoping review.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- Emotionally Personalized Doll Therapy for Behavioral Symptoms in an 88-Year-Old Woman With Alzheimer's Disease: A Case Report.Clinical case reports · 2026Article
- Delirium in nursing homes and long-term care facilities: findings of a scoping review of detection tools.European geriatric medicine · 2025Article
- Article
- Therapeutic Doll Interventions for People Living with Dementia in Care Homes: A Scoping Review.Nursing reports (Pavia, Italy) · 2024Article
- Article
- Doll Therapy Intervention Reduces Challenging Behaviours of Women with Dementia Living in Nursing Homes: Results from a Randomized Single-Blind Controlled Trial.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Article
- Delirium in Nursing Home Residents: A Narrative Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Effect of Doll Therapy in Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia: A Systematic Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- The prevalence and incidence of delirium superimposed on dementia in community settings: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Alzheimer's & dementia (Amsterdam, Netherlands)Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPatients living with dementia are severely affected by the development of behavioral and psychologic symptoms (BPSD) which represent a burden for patients and caregivers. The use of psychotropic drugs in the control of BPSD is widely diffused, however the use of a first line non-pharmacologic approach is highly recommended. Here we evaluate the effect of doll therapy (DT) in the management of BPSD, on the reduction of caregiver burden and delirium incidence in nursing home residents by a randomized controlled trial.
methodsWe enrolled fifty-two nursing homes residents living with dementia and BPSD. Subjects were randomized to DT (26) or standard treatment (ST, 26), we measured BPSD, caregiver burden and delirium with standard clinical scales at baseline, after 45 and 90 days. In order to evaluate the presence of BPSD we used Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) scale and the A.Di.CO scale, the caregiver burden was measured by the Greutzner scale and delirium by the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) scale.
resultsDT was more effective in reducing agitation and aggressiveness as respect to ST. Moreover DT globally reduced the presence of BPSD as dysphoria, wandering and apathy. We observed a significant reduction of the professional caregiver burden and the incidence of delirium was significantly reduced in subjects treated with DT.
conclusionsWe show that DT is more effective that ST in the control of BSPD in patients affected by moderate to severe dementia. Moreover we suggest that DT may effective in reducing the incidence of delirium.
trial registrationRetrospectively registered in ClinicalTrials.gov the 10th June 2, 2021 trial registration number NCT04920591.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.