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Physical Activity and Cerebral Metabolism in the Elderly: a Randomised Controlled Trial

Physical Activity and Cerebral Metabolism in the Elderly: a Randomised Controlled Trial

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT02343029
Acronym
SMART
Enrollment
60
Registered
2015-01-21
Start date
2014-06-30
Completion date
2015-08-31
Last updated
2015-09-02

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Cognitive Impairment, Dementia

Keywords

Aerobic Exercise Training, prevention, magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging, psychometric tests, cognition, dementia, cognitive impairment

Brief summary

Physical activity exerts a variety of long-term health benefits in older adults.This randomised controlled trial investigates the effect of a 12-week physical exercise program on the change in cerebral metabolism as assessed with Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Imaging. Follow-up lasts for 6 months.

Interventions

OTHERIndividualised aerobic exercise training

During the first 4 weeks of intervention two of the three weekly training sessions are offered as group training supervised by the respective qualified exercise physiologist of the Department of Sports Medicine. After 4 weeks, participants' physical performance is reassessed at the Department of Sports Medicine. If necessary, workload is readjusted to achieve the initially defined exercise intensity.

After waiting for 12 weeks with normal daily activity, patients are allocated to a individualised aerobic exercise training, too.

Sponsors

Professor Johannes Pantel
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
65 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

1. be above 65 years of age, 2. voluntariness 3. capacity to consent, 4. having passed medical entry exam by the Department of Sports Medicine, 4\) regular mental capacity, 5) written informed consent

Exclusion criteria

1. untreated clotting disorders, 2. musculoskeletal diseases significantly reducing mobility, 3. severe bacterial or viral infections, 4. severe respiratory diseases (Gold IV), 5. acute pulmonary embolism, 6. instable angina pectoris or severe heart failure (NYHA III or IV), 7. severe vascular disease of the extremities or the brain, 8. severe pulmonary-cardiac dysfunction, 9. acute myocardial infarction or early phase of rehabilitation, 10. critical aortal stenosis, 11. severe hypertrophic and obstructive cardiomyopathy, 12. untreated malignant arrhythmias, 13. untreated severe hypertonia, 14. severe pulmonary hypertonia, 15. symptomatic cardiac malformations, 16. cardiac-block grade II or III, 17. left bundle branch block, 18. complex ventricular arrhythmias, 19. Cognitive impairment

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change in cerebral metabolism (assessed by MRSI)6 monthassessed by MRSI, Primary hypothesis is that aerobic exercise leads to an increase of cerebral N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA; mediated by plasma neurotrophins). Secondary hypothesis stipulates an increase of markers of neuronal energy reserve: i.e. the ratio of phosphocreatinin to creatinine and of adenosine-tri-phosphate (ATP) to \ di-phosphate (ADP). Third hypothesis is an increase in the volume of cortical grey matter

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Psychometric testing 1 (verbal declarative memory [Verbal Learning and Memory test; adapted German version of the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning test]0, 3 and 6 monthverbal declarative memory \[Verbal Learning and Memory test; adapted German version of the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning test\]
Psychometric testing 2 (frontal executive control [Colour-Word-Interference test; adapted German version of the Stroop test; Trail-Making-Test Part B]0, 3 and 6 monthfrontal executive control \[Colour-Word-Interference test; adapted German version of the Stroop test; Trail-Making-Test Part B\]
Psychometric testing 3 (working memory [Digit Span Test forward and backward]0, 3 and 6 monthworking memory \[Digit Span Test forward and backward\]
Psychometric testing 4 9semantic and phonematic fluency, nonverbal declarative memory and visual-constructive abilities by means of the CERAD-Plus (Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease) Neuropsychological Battery)0, 3 and 6 monthsemantic and phonematic fluency, nonverbal declarative memory and visual-constructive abilities by means of the CERAD-Plus (Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease) Neuropsychological Battery
Psychometric testing 9 (dementia and mild cognitive impairment using the Mini Mental State Examination and the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Questionnaire)0, 3 and 6 monthdementia and mild cognitive impairment using the Mini Mental State Examination and the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Questionnaire
Psychometric testing 5 (speed of cognitive processing is assessed by means of the Trail-Making-Test Part A)0, 3 and 6 monthspeed of cognitive processing is assessed by means of the Trail-Making-Test Part A
Psychometric testing 6 (depressive disorders: Geriatric Depression Scale)0, 3 and 6 monthdepressive disorders: Geriatric Depression Scale
Cardiopulmonary exercise test (Aerobic exercise capacity is determined by a physician-supervised CPET)0, 3 and 6 monthAerobic exercise capacity is determined by a physician-supervised CPET
Psychometric testing 8 (cristalline intelligence is assessed by means of a verbal intelligence test [Multiple-Choice Word Test: MWT-B]0, 3 and 6 monthcristalline intelligence is assessed by means of a verbal intelligence test \[Multiple-Choice Word Test: MWT-B\]
Balance and strength (postural sway (balance) and gait data acquisition via the capacitive force-measuring platform (30 Hz) WinFDM v0.0.41® (Zebris© GmbH, Isny, Germany)0, 3 and 6 monthpostural sway (balance) and gait data acquisition via the capacitive force-measuring platform (30 Hz) WinFDM v0.0.41® (Zebris© GmbH, Isny, Germany)
Pain Assessment (German Pain Questionnaire)0, 3 and 6 monthGerman Pain Questionnaire
History of diet (Food frequency questionnaire DEGS1)0, 3 and 6 monthFood frequency questionnaire DEGS1
History and fear of falling (German version of the Falls-Efficacy-Scale International Version)0, 3 and 6 monthGerman version of the Falls-Efficacy-Scale International Version
Physical activity (International Physical Activity Questionnaire, Lifetime Total Physical Activity Questionnaire and Accelerometry)0, 3 and 6 monthInternational Physical Activity Questionnaire, Lifetime Total Physical Activity Questionnaire and Accelerometry
Psychometric testing 7 (Age-associated subjective memory impairment is assessed using a memory complaint questionnaire [MAC-Q]0, 3 and 6 monthAge-associated subjective memory impairment is assessed using a memory complaint questionnaire \[MAC-Q\]

Countries

Germany

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Mar 5, 2026