Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41700094›Full record

Trial reportAlzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association2026

A Randomized Trial Using PARO with Minimal Caregiver Involvement on Older Adults with Dementia in Group Homes.

Kaoru Inoue, Mitsunobu Kono, Ryuji Kobayashi, Chiyomi Yatsu, Daryl Patrick Gamboa Yao, Takanori Shibata, Joseph F Coughlin, Masahiro Shigeta

Abstract readRandomized Controlled TrialMulticenter Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. A Randomized Trial Using PARO with Minimal Caregiver Involvement on Older Adults with Dementia in Group Homes.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026
    Trial
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

8 authors.

Kaoru InoueGraduate School of Human Health Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Arakawa ward, Tokyo, Japan.ORCID 0000-0001-6776-5487
Mitsunobu KonoDepartment of Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Kinjo University, Hakusan city, Japan.ORCID 0009-0001-9331-1646
Ryuji KobayashiDepartment of Occupational Therapy, School of Rehabilitation, Hyogo Medical University, Kobe city, Japan.ORCID 0000-0001-9485-2877
Chiyomi YatsuGraduate School of Human Health Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Arakawa ward, Tokyo, Japan.ORCID 0000-0002-9188-9778
Daryl Patrick Gamboa YaoGraduate School of Human Health Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Arakawa ward, Tokyo, Japan.ORCID 0000-0003-2844-8280
Takanori ShibataNational Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.ORCID 0000-0003-1976-7626
Joseph F CoughlinDirector AgeLab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-5288-2218
Masahiro ShigetaDepartment of Psychiatry, The Jikei University School of Medicine,Minato ward, Tokyo, Japan.

Funding

Grant in Aid for Scientific Research (B) 16H03212Grant in Aid for Scientific Research (B) 19H04504
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionPARO, a baby seal robot, has shown promise in addressing behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) in clinical settings. However, little is known about PARO's benefits when used independently of health professionals. This study examined that scenario in older adults with dementia.

methodsApplying a cluster-randomized design, we randomly assigned six facilities to once- or thrice-weekly self-directed PARO sessions for a month. BPSD severity and caregiver burden scores of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Brief Questionnaire were measured.

resultsFindings from 85 participants indicated a significant reduction in caregiver burden in the thrice-weekly group (least-squares [LS] mean: -3.29, 95% confidence interval [CI]: [-6.26, -0.32], p = 0.030). For BPSD severity, while clinically meaningful improvement was observed, no significant difference was found (adjusted LS mean: -1.98, 95% CI: [-4.10, 0.15], p = 0.068) due to insufficient statistical power. DISCUSSION: Increasing robot use frequency reduced the caregiver burden and demonstrated a clinically significant improvement trend in the BPSD severity.

Indexed as

CaregiversDementiaRoboticsAgedAged, 80 and overFemaleHumansMalePsychiatric Status Rating ScalesSeverity of Illness IndexSurveys and QuestionnairesTreatment Outcomecaregiver burdendementiagroup caresocial robots

Identifiers

PMID41700094
PMCPMC12910241

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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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.