Evaluation of digital therapy in Dementia and aging in China

Authors

  • Yujuan Guo
  • Yihan Lu
  • Jinghan Zhang
  • Haoyang Chen
  • Shiyi Qiu

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.61173/k7cywc37

Keywords:

digital therapy, dementia, aging problem, evaluation, China

Abstract

In China, dementia become more and more seriously with the rapid increasing aging population, which bring significant burdens on health care systems, society and family. There are many barriers and challenges in dementia prevention diagnose, and treatment. Digital therapy in Hainan funded by the local government has been used by the healthcare system to conduct cognitive screening for the elderly above 60 years. The program demonstrates efficiency of digital therapy, and has proved cost-effective. This paper suggests that the model of digital therapy motivated by local governments, not only can help promoting the health system on dementia, but also educating health care professionals, enhancing screening capabilities of dementia, building a referral system and so on, should be expanded in other developing regions.

References

[1] Luo, Y., Su, B. and Zheng, X., 2021. Trends and challenges for population and health during population aging—China, 2015–2050. China CDC weekly, 3(28), p.593.

[2] Kyu, H.H., Abate, D., Abate, K.H., Abay, S.M., Abbafati, C., Abbasi, N., Abbastabar, H., Abd-Allah, F., Abdela, J., Abdelalim, A. and Abdollahpour, I., 2018. Global, regional, and national disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) for 359 diseases and injuries and healthy life expectancy (HALE) for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. The Lancet, 392(10159), pp.1859-1922.

[3] Han, Y., He, Y., Lyu, J., Yu, C., Bian, M. and Lee, L., 2020. Aging in China: perspectives on public health. Global Health Journal, 4(1), pp.11-17.

[4] Jia, J., Wang, F., Wei, C., Zhou, A., Jia, X., Li, F., ... & Dong, X., 2014. The prevalence of dementia in urban and rural areas of China. Alzheimer’s & dementia, 10:1 1-9.

[5] Nichols, E., Szoeke, C. E., Vollset, S. E., Abbasi, N., Abd- Allah, F., Abdela, J., ... & Murray, C. J., 2019. Global, regional, and national burden of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, 1990–2016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. The Lancet Neurology, 18.1: 88-106.

[6] Zhou, X. F., & Chen, L., 2021. Digital health care in China and access for older people. The Lancet Public Health, 6.12: e873-e874.

[7] Chen, H., Hagedorn, A., & An, N., 2023. The development of smart eldercare in China. The Lancet Regional Health–Western Pacific, 35.

[8] Yupeng Cui, Youshi He, Xinglong Xu, Lulin Zhou, Jonathan Aseye Nutakor & Lingqing Zhao(2024). Cultural capital, the digital divide, and the health of older adults: a moderated mediation effect test. BMC Public Health.

[9] Luxton, D. D.(2018). Behavioral and mental health apps. In J. J. Magnavita (Ed.), Using technology in mental health practice (pp. 43–61). American Psychological Association.

[10] Zhicheng He (2022). When data protection norms meet digital health technology: China’s regulatory approaches to health data protection. ScienceDirect.

[11] Yumeng Du, Qiru Zhou, Weibin Cheng, Zhang Zhang, Samantha Hoelzer , Yizhi Liang, Hao Xue, Xiaochen Ma, Sean Sylvia , Junzhang Tian, Weiming Tang(2022). Factors Influencing Adoption and Use of Telemedicine Services in Rural Areas of China: Mixed Methods Study. JMIR Publications, Advancing Digital Health& Open Science.

[12] Lange, Oliver Nicholas(2022). Economic evaluation of digital public health. Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences.

[13] Sarah A. Graham, Ellen E. Lee, Dilip V. Jeste, Ryan Van Patten, Elizabeth W. Twamley, Camille Nebeker, Yasunori Yamad, Ho-Cheol Kim, Colin A. Depp(2020). Artificial intelligence approaches to predicting and detecting cognitive decline in older adults: A conceptual review. ScienceDirect.

[14] National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China (2022). Policies for digital healthcare integration and government support.

[15] Yao, Y. (2021, July 4). Creative use of digital therapy: Bosun Technology breaks through the screening and intervention of Alzheimer’s disease. Tencent News.

[16] Smith, J., Doe, M., & Davis, B. (2021). AI-Driven Innovations in Alzheimer’s Disease: Integrating Early Diagnosis, Personalized Treatment, and Prognostic Modelling. Journal of Neurology and Neuromedicine, 23(6), 123-135.

[17] Appel, L., Ali, S., Narg, T., Mozeson, K., Pasat, Z., Orchanian‐Cheff, A., & Campos, J. L. (2021). Virtual reality Dean&Francis ISSN 2959-6149 to promote wellbeing in persons with dementia: A scoping review. Journal of Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies Engineering, 8, 1–16.

[18] Paula Pei Li, PhD, Grace Yuange Zang, MSc, Tao Liu, MD, Yuhui Zhang, PhD, Yue Qiu, PhD.(2024).Leveraging Digital Technology to Enhance Early Prevention of Dementia in Developing Regions: Cognitive Impairment Screening Program in Hainan.NEJM Catalyst.Vol. 5 No. s1 | 2024

[19] Yang Y, Lv C, Li H, et al. Community-based model for dementia risk screening: the Beijing Aging Brain Rejuvenation Initiative (BABRI) brain health system. J Am Med Dir Assoc 2021;22:1500-1506.e3 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/ article/pii/S1525861020310914 https://doi.org/10.1016/j. jamda.2020.12.024.

[20] Data from the Hainan program NEJM Catalyst (catalyst. nejm.org) © Massachusetts Medical Society

[21] Weinstein MC, Stason WB. Foundations of costeffectiveness analysis for health and medical practices. N Engl J Med. 1977 Mar 31;296(13):716-21. doi: 10.1056/ NEJM197703312961304. PMID: 402576.

[22] Willke RJ, Pizzi LT, Rand LZ, Neumann P. The Value of the Quality-Adjusted Life Years. Value Health. 2024 Jun;27(6):702-705. doi: 10.1016/j.jval.2024.04.018. Epub 2024 May 2. PMID: 38703994.

Downloads

Published

2025-02-27