Abstract
Background: Sensory stimulation, such as sight, hearing, and smell influence healthy neurological processing evident by the growing literature which demonstrates that sensory loss increases Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) risk. While these associations are critical in advancing the field, less is known related to cortical-level sensory processing and ADRD as a primary mechanism in functional performance and behavioral regulation. However, it is unclear how sensory processing assessment is used in clinical practice related to intervention. Objective: This systematic review explores the current state of evidence of sensory processing assessment before sensory-based interventions in ADRD care. Methods: A systematic review was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses 2020 update to exhaustively examine published literature (1999–2024) regarding sensory processing assessment in ADRD prior to sensory-based intervention delivery. Results: The systematic search identified 14,928 articles, all of which were screened for inclusion. No studies specifically assessed sensory processing prior to providing sensory-based interventions in older adults with ADRD. Conclusions: Findings of this systematic review illustrate a substantial gap in the field of ADRD care as sensory interventions are used in clinical care, yet there is insufficient evidence of sensory processing assessment to appropriately guide safe use for individuals with ADRD.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Journal of Alzheimer's Disease Reports |
| Volume | 9 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 1 2025 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© The Author(s) 2025. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
Funding
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The first author was funded by NIH/NIA T32 AG057461 and NIH/NIA K23-AG075262 during the described research. Authors acknowledge and thank Dr Camille Skubik-Peplaski for her review of the project protocol, as well as two graduate assistants, Ashley Cummings, MS, OTR/L and Brandi Carey, MS, for their efforts in this work.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| National Institutes of Health (NIH) | |
| National Institute on Aging | T32 AG057461, K23-AG075262 |
UN SDGs
This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
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SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
Keywords
- Alzheimer's disease and related dementias
- assessment
- sensory processing
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Neuroscience
- Clinical Psychology
- Geriatrics and Gerontology
- Psychiatry and Mental health
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