Home › Research › Prevention trials
Moderate-to-High Intensity Physical Exercise in Patients with Alzheimer's Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Hoffmann K, Sobol NA, Frederiksen KS, Beyer N, Vogel A, Vestergaard K, Brændgaard H, Gottrup H et al.. Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD, 2016-01-01
Topic: Brain imaging, connectivity and assessment
Background Studies of physical exercise in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) are few and results have been inconsistent. Objective To assess the effects of a moderate-to-high intensity aerobic exercise program in patients with mild AD. Methods In a randomized controlled trial, we recruited 200 patients with mild AD to a supervised exercise group (60-min sessions three times a week for 16 weeks) or to a control group. Primary outcome was changed from baseline in cognitive performance estimated by Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) in the intention-to-treat (ITT) group. Secondary outcomes included changes in quality of life, ability to perform activities of daily living, and in neuropsychiatric and depressive symptoms. Results The ITT analysis showed no significant differences between intervention and control groups in change from baseline of SDMT, other cognitive tests, quality of life, or activities of daily living. The change from baseline in Neuropsychiatric Inventory differed significantly in favor of the intervention group (mean: -3.5, 95% confidence interval (CI) -5.8 to -1.3, p = 0.002). In subjects who adhered to the protocol, we found a significant effect on change from baseline in SDMT as compared with the control group (mean: 4.2, 95% CI 0.5 to 7.9, p = 0.028), suggesting a dose-response relationship between exercise and cognition. Conclusions This is the first randomized controlled trial with supervised moderate-to-high intensity exercise in patients with mild AD. Exercise reduced neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with mild AD, with possible additional benefits of preserved cognition in a subgroup of patients exercising with high attendance and intensity.
Key findings
- Background Studies of physical exercise in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) are few and results have been inconsistent.
- Results The ITT analysis showed no significant differences between intervention and control groups in change from baseline of SDMT, other cognitive tests, quality of life, or activities of daily living.
- The change from baseline in Neuropsychiatric Inventory differed significantly in favor of the intervention group (mean: -3.5, 95% confidence interval (CI) -5.8 to -1.3, p = 0.002).
- In subjects who adhered to the protocol, we found a significant effect on change from baseline in SDMT as compared with the control group (mean: 4.2, 95% CI 0.5 to 7.9, p = 0.028), suggesting a dose-response relationship between exercise and cognition.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Prevention →
Study details
- Study designrandomized controlled trial
- Participants200
- Evidence strengthHigh
How this study scored 72/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a randomised controlled trial. Scored zero for effect reported because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 42 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 72 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 11 / 12 | A randomised controlled trial |
| Strength of evidence | 5 / 5 | Rated “high” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2016 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 200 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 1 / 2 | Randomised (as stated in the record) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 26682695) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 42 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 42 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 72 out of 100. |
| Total | 72 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
Free copy unknown: no free-copy check has an answer for this record yet. That does not mean it is paywalled.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Hoffmann, K., Sobol, N. A., Frederiksen, K. S., Beyer, N., Vogel, A., Vestergaard, K., et al. (2016). Moderate-to-High Intensity Physical Exercise in Patients with Alzheimer's Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD. https://doi.org/10.3233/jad-150817
Vancouver
Hoffmann K, Sobol NA, Frederiksen KS, Beyer N, Vogel A, Vestergaard K, et al. Moderate-to-High Intensity Physical Exercise in Patients with Alzheimer's Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD. 2016. doi:10.3233/jad-150817. PMID: 26682695.
BibTeX
@article{hoffmann2016-26682695,
author = {Hoffmann, K. and Sobol, N. A. and Frederiksen, K. S. and Beyer, N. and Vogel, A. and Vestergaard, K. and Brændgaard, H. and Gottrup, H. and others},
title = {{Moderate-to-High Intensity Physical Exercise in Patients with Alzheimer's Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial}},
journal = {Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD},
year = {2016},
doi = {10.3233/jad-150817},
pmid = {26682695},
url = {https://doi.org/10.3233/jad-150817}
}
Related studies in Prevention trials
Also tagged “exercise-training”
125 studies in the library carry the topic tag “exercise-training”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 125 tagged studies.