Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of cognitive interventions in community-dwelling healthy elderly were eligible for inclusion. Studies that included patients with mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's disease or dementia were excluded. Males and females with a mean age from 69.6 to 82.3 years were included.
A range of intervention types and regimens were used: memory training (such as group-based and computer-based memory training), multimodal training (for example, piano instruction), reasoning training (for example, problem solving) and speed of processing training (such as visual search skills). A number of outcome measures were used, such as Trail Making Test Cards A and B, Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale and memory tests.
The authors stated neither how papers were selected for the review nor how many reviewers performed the selection.