| Sumario: | Purpose The population of people with dementia in South Korea is growing concurrently with population aging, thus information and communications technology (ICT)-based dementia management technologies have attracted much attention in recent years. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of using a social robot at home for six weeks on perceived health, cognitive function, and depression in older adults with cognitive decline, diagnosed with MCI or dementia. We hypothesized that the use of a social robot would have a positive effect on perceived health, depression, and cognitive function in older adults with cognitive decline. Method This study enrolled older adult with cognitive decline (determined by K-MMSE score ≤ 26, Clinical Dementia Rating 0.5-2). Study participants were divided into very mild cognitive impairment (vMCI), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and moderate cognitive impairment (MOCI) groups based on their cognitive function and were instructed to use a socially assistive robot called Hyodol at home for six weeks. Baseline and post-intervention surveys after six weeks were performed to examine the changes in perceived health, depression, and cognitive function in the intervention and control group. Results and Discussion As shown in table 1, the vMCI group showed a reduction in the depression score after the intervention (t=-2.447, p=.040), while the MCI and MOCI group did not show significant changes in the depression score. Further, the MCI group showed an improvement in the cognitive function score after the intervention (t=2.690, p=.021), but the vMCI and MOCI groups did not show significant changes. The significance of this study is that it evaluated the effectiveness of a SAR (Hyodol) by dividing older adults into groups based on the degree of cognitive impairment. Moreover, it presented foundational data for prevention policies and services targeting cognitive decline in older adults.
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