PRESIDE
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Pilot Randomised Evaluation of Singing in Dementia
IRAS ID
256110
Contact name
Justine Schneider
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Nottingham
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 1 months, 16 days
Research summary
Summary of Research
Pilot Randomised Evaluation of Singing in Dementia
Dementia affects about eight hundred thousand people in the UK, with the number expected to rise. As well as searching for medical treatments for dementia, there is a need for helpful social activities to support people with dementia to live well with the condition. People with dementia are at risk of social isolation and mental health problems, and family carers can feel unsupported and over-burdened by their role. Studies have suggested that group singing can improve mood, memory and relationships for people with dementia, and establish support networks which help carers. The shared activity of singing together may have benefits for the relationship between person with dementia and carer too. However, to date no large scale studies about community singing and dementia have been conducted.
This study is a feasibility study, meaning that it aims to try out a study design to see if it would work on a larger scale. In particular, we want to see if we can recruit enough people to take part in the study, and whether they will remain in the study for long enough to collect all the data we need. We will aim to recruit 80 people with a recent diagnosis of dementia and their carers. They will be randomly assigned to either attend group singing straight away, or to wait for ten weeks before attending group singing. We will collect data about their quality of life, mood, and cognitive function at several time points, so we can compare the differences between people who attend singing straight away and those who wait. The data we collect from this feasibility study will allow us to plan a larger trial of singing for people with dementia.
Summary of Results
Singing is popular amongst people with dementia living in the community. However, we didn’t have any strong evidence to prove it helps. PRESIDE (Preliminary Randomised Evaluation of Singing in Dementia) set out to test a research design to find this evidence. If the results were positive, it would set the stage for a study with more people that could provide strong evidence. This evidence could encourage funding more singing groups.
We looked at: the feasibility of recruiting enough people to take part; whether they minded being asked at random to join a singing group or to wait; how many people dropped out over the six-month study; and whether the questionnaires we chose could measure changes in things like the mood, wellbeing and quality of life of the people who took part. We also interviewed participants about their experiences of the singing groups and of participating in the research.
Our target was to recruit 80 couples where one partner had dementia. Over nine months in three towns we enrolled 36 couples. Although the sample size was too small to show significant differences, the people with dementia who were in the singing group had better scores on all the outcome measures at three months, compared to the people on the waiting list.
From the interviews, we found that people enjoyed the singing groups and appreciated the sense of camaraderie and acceptance of all singing abilities. Smaller groups were a source of disappointment and meant some people felt exposed singing. Benefits were experienced in social, cognitive, musical, and physical domains, but not everyone reported benefits.
We learned that:
1. The study design is feasible, but any larger study should account for slow recruitment.
2. Participants who were in the waiting group did drop out at a higher rate than intervention group participants, but the overall retention rate was still high.
3. Combined data suggests that questionnaires about wellbeing, quality of life, social engagement and independence may be the most suitable tools to detect change in future trials of community singing.REC name
Social Care REC
REC reference
19/IEC08/0056
Date of REC Opinion
14 Jan 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion