Effects of Electrical Automatic Massage on Cognition and Sleep Quality in Alzheimer's Disease Spectrum Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial

PURPOSE: Muscle relaxation following electrical automatic massage (EAM) has been found to reduce fatigue, depression, stress, anxiety, and pain in individuals with various conditions. However, the effects of EAM have not been extensively explored in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Here, we conducted a randomized controlled study to evaluate the effects of EAM on the cognitive and non-cognitive functions of patients with AD spectrum disorders. RESULTS: We found that EAM attenuated changes in attention-associated cognitive scores and subjective sleep quality relative to those in controls. CONCLUSION: While further studies in a clinical setting are needed to support our findings, these encouraging results suggest that EAM may be an alternative therapy for the management of associated symptoms in AD (ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT03507192, 24/04/2018).