Effectiveness of creative story therapy for dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE: To conduct a meta-analysis of the effectiveness of creative story therapy versus routine nursing alone for the treatment of dementia. METHODS: We manually searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), China VIP Database (VIP), China Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), and Wanfang Data up to May 2023. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of creative story therapy combined with routine nursing versus routine nursing for the treatment of dementia were included. RESULTS: A total of 597 participants were enrolled in the 9 RCTs. Among them, 296 were in the creative story therapy group, and 301 were in the routine nursing group. We found statistically significant effects of creative story therapy combined with routine nursing on cognitive function [standardized mean difference (SMD) = 0.99, 95% CI 0.57, 1.41, P < 0.00001], CSDD score [mean difference (MD) = − 1.71, 95% CI − 3.27, − 0.14, P < 0.00001], quality of life [SMD = 0.97, 95% CI 0.04, 1.90, P = 0.04], and social communication [MD = 0.46, 95% CI 0.17, 0.74, P < 0.00001] between the creative story therapy group and routine nursing groups; no significant difference in change in basic needs communication [MD = 0.09, 95% CI − 0.58, 0.76, P < 0.00001]. CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis shows that creative story therapy combined with routine nursing has significant effectiveness in improving cognitive function and depression in people with dementia. More high-quality RCTs are required to validate these results. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40001-023-01337-7.