Meditation for subjective cognitive decline, mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Frontiers in public health January 1, 2025 Jiaxin Shi, Hao Tian, Jingwen Wei et al. 2 citations
Meditation significantly improves global cognitive performance, sleep quality, and health status in older adults with subjective cognitive decline, mild cognitive impairment, and Alzheimer's disease. A meta-analysis of 25 randomized controlled trials involving 2,095 participants found that meditation raised Mini-Mental State Examination scores by an average of 2.22 points, improved Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index scores by 1.40 points, and increased 36-Item Short Form Health Survey scores by 3.50 points. No significant effect on depression was detected. The findings suggest meditation is a useful adjunct therapy, though results should be interpreted cautiously due to heterogeneity and limited sample sizes.