Abstract:

Background: People with Alzheimer's dementia can experience a disruption in their daily activities, which can increase the burden of treatment costs. Puzzle therapy can encourage the release of the expression of the person living with Alzheimer's through artistic expression and creative processes. This study aims to determine the effectiveness of puzzle therapy on cognitive function of elderly dementia. Methods: A quasi-experimental approach using pre-post with control group design was used in this study.  The number of respondents in the intervention group was 44 and in the control group was 27. The cognitive function on the elderly was assessed by the questionnaire of the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test (HVLT). Data were analyzed using SPSS version 17 for Windows. Bivariate paired T-test and Independent T-test were used in this study. Results: There was a significant increase in the mean value of cognitive function among the intervention group (2.16±2.67; P=0.013) after puzzle therapy. The intervention group without dementia was also found significantly increase (2.10±2.19; 0.000). While in the control group who had dementia obtained a non-significant decrease in cognitive functions (0.29±0.75; 0.356). However, the control group without dementia was found to be significantly increased (0.5±0.7; 0.008) in the cognitive function. Conclusion: Puzzle therapy intervention can improve cognitive scores significantly in all elderly people.

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