Level of memory contentment and ability among Parkinson’s disease patients partaking in Biokinetics exercise rehabilitation: a South African exploratory study

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) affects quality of life (QoL) in those living with Parkinson’s Disease (PD) through the loss of independence, sociability and creates feelings of shame. Knowledge pertaining to metamemory and cognitive interventions for PD in exercise rehabilitation is limited. This exploratory study aimed to determine the level of memory contentment, self-appraised memory ability and compensatory memory strategy among non-demented PD patients (n = 20) partaking in exercise rehabilitation. An online cross-sectional survey study design was employed, and the Multifactorial Memory Questionnaire was completed, measuring several aspects of metamemory. Inter-group comparisons were performed using a one-way ANOVA to determine relationships between variables by means of Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS (Version 28.0, IBM) at a significance level of p < 0.05. Significant differences were found between the Hoehn and Yahr (HY) scales for memory satisfaction (p = 0.007) and ability (p = 0.013), but not for strategy use (p = 0.99). Correlations were found between satisfaction and ability (r = 0.807; p = 0.000); satisfaction and strategy (r = -0.729; p = 0.000), and between ability and strategy (r = -0.729; p = 0.000). The study also demonstrated that the majority of participants were unconfident in their level of memory contentment and ability. Findings substantiate the need for prospective rehabilitative methods for improvement of cognitive health among PD patients. However, due to the limited sample size, study findings cannot be regarded as conclusive.