Clinical trial design of serious gaming in mild cognitive impairment

Since the most common dementia subtype (50–75%) is Alzheimer's disease (AD), its early detection and clinical effectiveness of its prevention and treatment represent a major public health concern and have been identified as a research priority (Alzheimer's Disease International, 2009; Ballard et al., 2011; Foster et al., 2014). In this respect, it is worth noting the increase by 32% in the number of US females gamers aged 50 and older from 2012 to 2013 (ESA, 2014). Because the number of elderly people who play video games in the past decades has steadily increased and is predicted to grow further (Robert et al., 2014), even small beneficial effects may have significant public health implications (Alzheimer's Disease International, 2014). Progressive decline of cognitive functions is indeed a clinical feature of AD and has been found to be associated with impairment in activities of daily living (Tomaszewski Farias et al., 2009). [...]intervention aimed at prevention and rehabilitation of such decline may promote a longer independent life at home and decrease the burden of dementia on patients and families. According to the recommendations reported in (Robert et al., 2014), SGs for MCI patients' stimulation could be considered adapted to be used both everyday and once a week; at home, in day centers and in the nursing homes; with a therapist, a professional caregiver and a family caregiver.