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Goal Setting to Promote Physical Activity Adherence in Midlife Adults

Goal Setting to Promote Physical Activity Adherence in Midlife to Reduce Risk of Alzheimer's Disease and Related-Dementias: A Randomized Mechanistic Proof-Of-Concept Trial

Status
Recruiting
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05980052
Enrollment
144
Registered
2023-08-07
Start date
2023-07-17
Completion date
2027-05-31
Last updated
2026-07-17

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

Conditions

Exercise, Physical Activity

Keywords

exercise, physical activity, mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's disease, dementia, behavior change, midlife

Brief summary

Engaging in regular physical activity during midlife is a key lifestyle behavior associated with reduced risk for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD). Yet nearly half of midlife adults (48%) do not meet national physical activity guidelines. The purpose of this mechanistic trial is to identify effective goal setting techniques to enhance psychosocial processes of self-regulation for the successful promotion of PA and adherence to national PA guidelines among midlife adults, with the long-term goal of reducing AD/ADRD risk

Detailed description

More than 6 million U.S. adults live with diagnoses of Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (AD/ADRD), with projections as high as 13.8 million cases by 2050. There are no cures for AD/ADRD, making lifestyle factors key targets for reducing risk, as they account for at least a third of AD/ADRD cases. Engaging in regular physical activity (PA), particularly in midlife, is associated with reduced risk for AD/ADRD. Yet, nearly half of midlife adults (48%) do not meet national PA guidelines of 150 minutes/week of moderate-intensity PA. Goal setting is a commonly used behavior change strategy to increase PA. Key psychosocial mechanisms believed to underpin the use of goal setting to promote PA include self-regulation and self-efficacy. However, the most effective goal setting technique to enhance these psychosocial mechanisms for the successful promotion of PA and adherence to national PA guidelines remains unclear. In the proposed study, the investigators will use a two-phased approach to empirically test three goal setting techniques to enhance psychosocial mechanisms of self-regulation and self-efficacy for the successful promotion of PA and adherence to national PA guidelines among insufficiently active midlife adults with obesity. In the R61 phase, a Phase 1 pilot study will establish feasibility and help refine the intervention. In the R33 phase, a Phase 2 9-month 4-arm proof-of-concept mechanistic trial (6-month active intervention and 3-month no contact follow-up) will be implemented to establish preliminary efficacy of goal setting techniques to increase PA and promote adherence to national PA guidelines. All participants will receive a Fitbit to self-monitor PA and engage in PA action planning sessions with a study interventionist. In addition, participants will be randomly assigned to 1 of 4 groups: i) static weekly goal of 150 minutes/week of moderate-intensity PA, which most closely resembles the approach of public health campaigns and care providers; ii) weekly self-selected PA goals, which allows for self-determination and adaptation of the goal; iii) modest incremental weekly PA increase goal (i.e., researcher determined PA goal that 20% minutes/week greater than the minutes/week of PA in the previous week); or iv) non-goal setting control group. Based on Goal Setting Theory, it is hypothesized that participants in the incremental goal group will have the greatest increases in self-regulation and self-efficacy, which in turn, will lead to the greatest improvements in PA and adherence to national PA guidelines over the 9-month intervention.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALPhysical Activity

Theory-driven behavioral physical activity promotion intervention.

Sponsors

Arizona State University
Lead SponsorOTHER
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
CollaboratorNIH

Study design

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

Intervention model description

Four arm randomized mechanistic proof-of-concept trial

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
45 Years to 65 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

* Aged 45 to 65 years * BMI between 30 kg/m2 to 50 kg/m2 * Participants must weigh a minimum of 110 pounds * Engaging in 60 minutes or less of self-reported moderate-to-vigorous physical activity at screening (based on Exercise Vital Sign Questionnaire) * Self-reported ownership of a smartphone with an iOS or Android operating system (necessary for participants to track their activity using a Fitbit activity monitor)

Exclusion criteria

* Endorsing an item on the Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PAR-Q), unless a physician's note is provided * Resting blood pressure greater than 200/110 mmHG as assessed at the baseline study assessment (unless a physician's note is provided) * Pregnant or planning to become pregnant in next 8-months (Phase 1) or 12 months (Phase 2) * Plans to relocate out of metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona area in the next 8-months (Phase 1) or 12 months (Phase 2) * Participation in another physical activity, nutrition or weight loss program at time of screening or at any time during the intervention * Individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), as determined by either a self-report of receiving a diagnosis of MCI from a health care provider or as assessed by the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) at the study orientation session. A score \< 26 is an exclusion criterion for US born participants. A score of \<23 is an exclusion for participants born outside of the US who completed their high school education in a country where English is not the primary language. * Being previously prescribed one of the 5 approved Alzheimer's medications, including: Donepezil (Aricept), Rivastigmine (Exelon), Galantamine (Razadyne), Memantine (Namenda), Memantine + Donepezil (Namzaric) * Score of 16 or higher on the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D) * Self-reported current diagnosis of major depression * Currently taking 2 or more ant-depression drugs * History of stroke * Incarcerated individuals (i.e., Prisoners)

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change in accelerometer-measured moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity from baseline to 6- and 9-monthsAssessed at baseline, 6-months, 9-monthsParticipants will wear wrist-worn ActiGraph GT9X Link Activity monitors the activity monitor on their non-dominant wrist during all waking hours for 7 consecutive days to provide an assessment of usual activity.
Change in Fitbit-assessed moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activityAssessed daily up to 9-monthsParticipants will wear a wrist-worn Fitbit activity monitor daily throughout the 9-month intervention.
Change in self-reported moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity from baseline to 6- and 9-monthsAssessed at baseline, 6-months, 9-monthsSelf-reported minutes per week of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity assessed by the 7-day Physical Activity Recall.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change in physical activity self-regulation from baseline to 6- and 9-monthsAssessed monthly up to 9-monthsAssessed using the The 12-item Physical Activity Self-Regulation Scale (PASR-12; Umstattd et al., 2009). This scale assess 6 PA-related self-regulatory domains: self-monitoring, goal setting, eliciting social support, reinforcements, time management, relapse prevention. The range of possible scores is 5-60, with higher scores indicating higher levels of physical activity self-regulation.
Change in physical activity behavioral strategies from baseline to 6- and 9-monthsAssessed monthly up to 9-monthsAssessed using 10-item Self-Regulation scale from the Health Belief Survey (Anderson et al., 2010) This scale assesses the use of behavioral strategies to incorporate physical activity into daily activities (i.e., take stairs instead of elevator, walking instead of driving when running errands). The range of possible scores for this measure is 1-5, with higher scores indicating higher levels of physical activity self-regulation.
Change in physical activity self-efficacy from baseline to 6- and 9-monthsAssessed monthly up to 9-monthsAssessed by the 12-item Exercise Self-Efficacy survey (Sallis et al.1987). The range of possible scores for this measure is 1-5, with higher scores indicating higher levels of physical activity self-efficacy.
Change in general self-regulation from baseline to 6- and 9-monthsAssessed monthly up to 9-monthsAssessed using the 31-item short version of the self-regulation scale (SSRS; Carey, Neal, \& Collins, 2004). The range of possible scores is 31 to 155, with higher scores indicate greater self-regulation
Change in General Self-Efficacy from baseline to 6- and 9-monthsAssessed monthly up to 9-monthsAssessed using the 10-item Self-Efficacy Scale publicly available in SOBC repository \& NIH Toolbox. The range of possible scores is 31 to 155. Higher scores indicate greater self-efficacy.

Countries

United States

Contacts

CONTACTRodney Joseph, PhD
rodney.joseph@asu.edu602-496-0772
CONTACTMolly Maxfield, PhD
molly.maxfield@asu.edu602-496-2311

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Jul 18, 2026