Study designs of evaluations included in the review
Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) were eligible for inclusion.
Specific interventions included in the review
Studies of reminiscence therapy of any type were eligible for inclusion. The interventions included in the review were structured and unstructured reminiscence therapy. The control groups in the included studies received different types of reminiscence therapy, or either a placebo intervention or usual standard care.
Participants included in the review
Studies of participants aged over 55 years who were not residing in the primary care setting were eligible for inclusion. The mean age of the participants in the included studies was 75.8, with mean values ranging from 66.5 to 82.3 years. All but two of the included studies contained both male and female participants. All of the studies took place in long-term care facilities. One study examined patients with a diagnosis of depression, while another looked at patients with a diagnosis of dementia.
Outcomes assessed in the review
Studies that employed measures of depression were eligible for inclusion. The included studies used the following measures: the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI; 5 studies), the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS; 3 studies), the Zung depression scale (2 studies) and the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD; 1 study).
How were decisions on the relevance of primary studies made?
The authors did not state how the papers were selected for the review, or how many reviewers performed the selection.