What Elements of the Design of a Healing Garden Are Used as Landmarks by Patients With Alzheimer's Disease to Locate? (JAZ-TOP)

Orienting Oneself in a Healing Garden: What Elements of the Design Are Used as Landmarks by Patients With Alzheimer's Disease ?

The disruption of spatial orientation is considered the second most common cognitive symptom of dementia, affecting nearly all activities of daily living. Research in the field of environmental psychology has helped to highlight the influence of the environment on patients with Alzheimer's disease or related syndromes. With regard to spatial orientation, it has been shown that an environment can provide support for cognitive failures in subjects if that particular space is adapted. While numerous studies have focused on the architectural environment (hospital, housing facility), none have explored the ability of patients to orient themselves in a natural environment such as a garden. Yet, in recent years, such gardens, known as healing gardens, have emerged in housing and care facilities, providing genuine support for the care management of patients with Alzheimer-type dementia. Various works have been published outlining recommendations for their management. However, with regard to spatial orientation, none of the available research has explored the basic principles on which to rely on in order to organize the elements of outdoor spaces into itineraries that promote orientation, according to ZEISEL and TYSON (1999). In the absence of such data, these authors recommend relying on five elements, identified by Lynch in his landmark book "Image of the City" (1960), that people use to orient themselves and find their way. These are " paths ", " edges ", " districts ", " nodes " and " landmarks ". The hypothesis to verify is that patients with Alzheimer's disease do not rely on the same elements of the garden as non-Alzheimer's subjects in making orientation decisions and to mentally picture this environment.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Alzheimer Disease
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: neuropsychological assessment

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 77
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• France
  • Nancy, France, 54000
    • University Hospital of Nancy , Saint Julien Hospital, France

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 65 years to 90 years (Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

All subjects (groups A and B):

• able to walk autonomously, that is without help, whether human or technical, except for a walking cane
• are aged 65 to 90 years
• have never been in the "art, memory and life" garden at the Paul SPILLMANN Centre prior to the study
• have given their written consent after receiving clear and intelligible oral and written information.

Group A : patients with Alzheimer's disease:

• diagnosis of probable Alzheimer's disease according to NINCDS-ADRDA diagnostic criteria (Mc KHANN et al., 1984)
• score less than or equal to 4 on the Hachinski ischemic scale (Hachinski et al., 1984)
• Folstein MMSE score between 10 and 24 inclusively
• score equal to 5 or 6 on the Reisberg Global Deterioration Scale (REISBERG et al., 1982).
• stable, specific treatment of Alzheimer's disease (cholinesterase and memantine)
• taking of psychotropic drugs authorized, but no change in treatment during at least the last 48 hours

Group B: healthy control subjects:

• absence of dementia according to NINCDS-ADRDA criteria (Mc KHANN et al., 1984)
• normal performance on Folstein MMSE, according to the GRECO (en français : Groupe de REflexions sur les Evaluations Cognitives) standards (Reflection Group on Cognitive Assessments)

Exclusion Criteria:

For all subjects (groups A and B):

• Absence of social security coverage
• sensory deficit interfering with the task
• aphasia interfering with the task
• history of head trauma (with loss of consciousness)
• chronic alcoholism
• refusal or inability to obtain written informed consent form from the patient
• legally protected person
• severe depression: score higher than 20 on the 30-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS)

Group A : patients with Alzheimer's disease:

• other neurological or psychiatric diseases that may affect the assessment Group B: healthy control subjects
• neurological or psychiatric diseases that may affect the assessment

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Diagnostic
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Alzheimer disease patients	Other: neuropsychological assessment
Active Comparator: control; healthy control subjects.	Other: neuropsychological assessment

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Analyze nature and frequency of elements of the " art, memory and life " garden used as landmarks by Alzheimer's disease patients	To describe and compare nature and frequency of elements involved in orientation decisions and the cognitive map, between a group of subjects with Alzheimer's disease and a group of healthy control subjects.	Baseline = inclusion visit

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Study the characteristics of the elements that contributed to decision-making regarding spatial orientation, the cognitive map, correlations between success in experimental, neuropsychological assessment in Alzheimer disease and healthy control subjects.	To identify, through analysis of interviews based on problem solving and interlocutory logic (TROGNON and BATT, 2007,2010, 2011), the characteristics of the elements of the " art, memory and life " garden that contributed to decision-making regarding spatial orientation and the development of a mental representation of the garden, in patients with Alzheimer's disease and healthy elderly subjects.	Baseline = inclusion visit
Study the characteristics of the elements that contributed to decision-making regarding spatial orientation, the cognitive map, correlations between success in experimental, neuropsychological assessment in Alzheimer disease and healthy control subjects.	To study the correlation between the degree of success in experimental tasks (route learning, cognitive map) and standard and specific neuropsychological assessment (visuospatial skills) of individuals with Alzheimer's disease and healthy control subjects.	Baseline = inclusion visit

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Central Hospital, Nancy, France
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Thérèse Rivasseau Jonveaux, PhD, University Hospital of Nancy, France

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: August 1, 2012
• Primary Completion (Actual): October 1, 2014
• Study Completion (Actual): October 1, 2014

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 16, 2012
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 21, 2012
• First Posted (Estimate): September 26, 2012

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): July 30, 2015
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 29, 2015
• Last Verified: July 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Brain Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Neurocognitive Disorders; Neurodegenerative Diseases; Dementia; Tauopathies; Alzheimer Disease
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2011-A00993-38