The Therapeutic Effect of Curcumin on Psychological Symptoms in Elderly: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial

Introduction: Mental health problems can have a high impact on an older person's ability to carry out basic daily living activities, reducing their quality of life. This study investigates the effect of curcumin on psychological symptoms in elderly population.Materials and Methods: This clinical trial recruited elderly referred to the health center in Kashan, Iran, at ۲۰۲۲ (n = ۵۲). The study samples divided into intervention and control groups using computer-generated random numbers to receive either ۸۰ mg/day curcumin (n = ۲۶) or placebo (n = ۲۶), one hour after taking food, for ۴ weeks. The sleep quality and general health was evaluated on the at study baseline, ۴ and ۸ weeks after the intervention. SPSS software version ۱۷ was used for data analysis.Results: The two groups matched for demographic characteristics (P>۰.۰۵). Sleep quality and general health score did not indicate a significant difference by curcumin intervention during the time (p > ۰.۰۵).Conclusions: Our finding rejected the effectiveness of ۸۰ mg/day of curcumin for four weeks on sleep quality and general health in elderly population. Hence, due to the small sample size and limited scientific evidence on elderly, further studies are necessary.

Keywords:

Curcumin , Sleep quality , General health , Elderly.