International Journal of Nursing Studies 40 (2003) 335–345 Review Effect of reminiscence therapy on depression in older adults: a systematic review Hsiu-Fang Hsieha,*, Jing-Jy Wangb a University of Washington, 4745 16th Avenue NE, 2, Seattle, WA 98015, USA b Fooyin University, Kaohsiung Hsien, Taiwan Received 21 March2002; received in revised form 11 October 2002; accepted 21 October 2002 Abstract The objective of this systematic review is to provide healthcare professionals with information to assist in their decision to utilize reminiscence therapy for depression reduction in older adults outside of the primary care setting. Nine reviewed studies that were randomized controlled trials not only varied in person, outcome measurement, control, and exposure/intervention, the results of these studies were also diverse. About half of these studies showed that reminiscence therapy resulted in statistical significantly decrease in depression. Despite that reminiscence therapy requires further testing, it should be considered as a valuable intervention. Future directions of studies on reminiscence therapy are suggested. r 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Reminiscence therapy; Depression; Older adults; Systematic review Contents 1. Introduction . .................................. 336 2. Reminiscence therapy . .................................. 336 3. Process of locating the reviewed studies . ......... 336 4. Description of the reviewed studies . ......... 337 4.1. Type of person . ............................. 337 4.2. Type of outcome measures . ............................. 337 4.3. Type of control . ............................. 340 4.4. Type of exposure/intervention . ............................. 340 5. Methodological quality of the reviewed studies . ......... 340 5.1. Sample selection bias . ............................. 340 5.2. Performance bias . ............................. 340 5.3. Intervention bias . ............................. 342 5.4. Attrition bias . ............................. 342 6. Results of the reviewed studies . ......... 342 *Corresponding author. Fax: +1-206-525-2148. E-mail address: [email protected] (H.-F. Hsieh). 0020-7489/03/$ - see front matter r 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S 0020-7489(02)00101-3 336 H.-F. Hsieh, J.-J. Wang / International Journal of Nursing Studies 40 (2003) 335–345 6.1. Between-group comparison: treatment group vs. treatment group . .... 342 6.2. Between-group comparison: treatment group vs. placebo control group . .... 343 6.3. Between-group comparison: treatment group vs. standard care control group . .... 343 7. Discussion . .................................. 343 8. Conclusion . .................................. 344 8.1. Implications for practice . ............................. 344 8.2. Suggestions for future studies . ............................. 344 References. .................................. 345 1. Introduction 2. Reminiscence therapy Elderly people are the fastest growing population The developmental-existential perspective of reminis- around the world. According to estimates, between the cence in the elderly was first emphasized by Butler year of 1990 and 2020, the population age between 65 (1963). Reminiscence is a naturally occurring universal and 74 will increase 74%, while the population under and spontaneous mental process in which past experi- age 65 will increase 24% (Census Bureau, Economics ences, especially unresolved conflicts, are progressively and Statistic, 2001). Withtheincreasing number and returned to consciousness, and thus they can be proportion of elders, their health problems can be reintegrated (Butler, 1963). Reminiscence is more than significant, especially mental health problems. Among simply recalling the past. It is ‘‘a structured process of these mental health problems, depression is especially systematically reflecting on one’s life’’ (Brady, 1999, p. prevalent among older adults. In a large retrospective 179). It is a reflexive process through which one can self-reported study, 17.8% of females and 9.4% of males introspectively define or redefine oneself (Parker, 1995). who were older than 60 were diagnosed with lifetime Reminiscence therapy can be conducted either in depression based on the DSM-III-R criteria (Barry et al., individual (intrapersonally) or group (interpersonally) 1998). In addition, epidemiological studies show that the modality. Typically, reminiscence therapy starts with death rates for individuals who are older than 55 and birth and then progresses through the decades of life witha diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder will withfocus on significant events ( Cook, 1998). Reminis- increase four fold (DSM-IV-TRTM, 2000). Therefore, cence should be sensitive to the different needs of obtaining adequate health care resources in care of older individuals. Researchers have investigated the effect of adults is a challenge and critical issue in the 21st reminiscence therapy on various cognitive, psychologi- Century. cal, social, behavioral, and health outcome measures. Derived from Erikson’s theory, reminiscence therapy These include depression, self-esteem, self-concept, self- assists older adults to review their past, thus resulting in assessment, self-acceptance, self-change ego integrity, helping the resolution of the developmental stage known ego strength, mood, anxiety, coping self-efficacy, social as ego integrity vs. despair (Taylor-Price, 1995). problem-solving ability, integration of life events, life Researchers have tried to investigate the effect of satisfaction, physical activities, social behavior, cogni- reminiscence therapy on decreasing depression among tive status, health status, and well-being. older adults. Reminiscence therapy requires minimal resources and so is often considered cost-effective therapeutic intervention (Comana et al., 1998). This 3. Process of locating the reviewed studies therapy is readily available anytime and anywhere for older adults. However, findings of studies varied from The clinical question for this systematic review was study to study. A systematic review of the effect of ‘‘Does reminiscence therapy improve depression in older reminiscence is essential. adults compared withplacebo control or standard By appraising and synthesizing related studies, the care?’’ Studies included in this review were selected on purposes of this systematic review are: the basis of five categories of inclusion criteria suggested by Counsell (1998): type of persons, type of outcome * To determine the effectiveness of reminiscence measure, type of study design, type of control, and type therapy as an intervention for depression reduction of exposure. Inclusion criteria of studies were: in older adults outside of the primary care setting. * To suggest approaches of reminiscence therapy that * Type of person. Studies withsubjects whowere older need to be changed or used in care of older adults. than age 55, both females and/or males, residing * To identify further research needed. outside of the primary care setting were included in H.-F. Hsieh, J.-J. Wang / International Journal of Nursing Studies 40 (2003) 335–345 337 this review. Type of disease or condition of subjects 4. Description of the reviewed studies was not restricted. * Type of outcome measure. Depression was selected All reviewed studies included in this review were as an outcome measure in this review because randomized controlled trials. These studies varied in it is most prevalent in older adults and can in- type of: person, control, outcome measurement tools, crease morbidity and mortality, and impair quality of and specific methods of exposure/intervention. Table 1 life, thus depression is an important outcome summarizes these reviewed studies. measure. * Type of study design. Studies included in this review 4.1. Type of person were all randomized controlled trials. * Type of control. Studies included in this review In type of person, not only personal characteristics of had at least one standard care or placebo control the subjects were different between studies, but also the group. disease or condition of the subjects and the setting of the * Type of exposure. Type of exposure in this review studies were not the same. The total numbers of subjects was reminiscence therapy. The only selected crit- in these reviewed studies ranged from 21 to 162, with a erion in this exposure was that reminiscence mean sample size of 53 (standard deviation of 44). Age therapy was the principle intervention. There was of the sample ranged from 55 to 97. Mean ages were no limitation on specific types of reminiscence between 66.5 and 82.3 (average 75.8, standard deviation therapy. of 6.0). All the reviewed studies except two (Taylor- Price, 1995; Youssef, 1990) included bothfemales and Searchstrategy for identification of studies included: males in the studies. Subjects in one of the reviewed studies had a diagnosis of depression (Arean et al., * Online databases. Several online databases were 1993), the rest of the reviewed studies used depression investigated withthreesearchterms to identify scales to measure depression symptoms. Subjects in one potential studies. These search terms were ‘‘reminis- of the reviewed studies had clinical diagnosis of cence’’, ‘‘elderly (older adults)’’, and ‘‘depression’’. dementia (Goldwasser et al., 1987), while the rest had Document types were either research or trial. Online not. Settings for all the studies were long-term care databases searched included MEDLINE 1965,