Immediate Beneficial Effect of Makeup Therapy on Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia and Facial Appearance Analyzed by Artificial Intelligence Software.

BACKGROUND Possible benefits of makeup therapy, in terms of immediate and late effects on cognitive and affective functions, have not been fully proved for dementia patients. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the immediate effect of makeup therapy on dementia patients. METHODS Female nursing home residents with dementia received either only skin care treatment (control group, n = 17) or skin care plus makeup therapy treatment (makeup therapy group, n = 19). Cognitive, affective, and activity of daily living (ADL) scores were evaluated before and just after treatments. Apparent age and emotion were also evaluated with artificial intelligence (AI) software. RESULTS Makeup therapy significantly improved Abe's behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) score (ABS, *p < 0.05). AI software judged that makeup therapy significantly made the apparent age younger (*p < 0.05). In particular, patients with moderate ADL scores had a significantly higher happiness score in makeup therapy (*p < 0.05), with a modest correlation to the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE, r = 0.42, *p < 0.05). The severe baseline MMSE group reported a greater feeling of satisfaction following makeup therapy (*p < 0.05). CONCLUSION The present makeup therapy is a promising non-pharmacological approach to immediately alleviate BPSD in female dementia patients, and the present AI software quickly and quantitatively evaluated the beneficial effects of makeup therapy on facial appearance.