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51/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 51 out of 100. Disparities

Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis

AD is a public health epidemic, which seriously impacts cognition, mood and daily activities; however, one type of activity, exercise, has been shown to alter these states. Accordingly, we sought to investigate the relationship between exercise and mood, in early-stage AD patients (N=104) from California, over a 1-year period. Patients completed the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), and Blessed-Roth Dementia Rating Scale (BRDRS), while their caregivers completed the Yale Physical Activity Survey (YALE), Profile of Mood States (POMS), the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) and Functional Abilities Questionnaire (FAQ). Approximately half of the participants were female, from a variety of ethnic groups (Caucasian=69.8%; Latino/Hispanic Americans=20.1%). Our results demonstrated that the patients spent little time engaged in physical activity in general, their overall activity levels decreased over time, and this was paired with a change in global cognition (e.g., MMSE total score) and affect/mood (e.g., POMS score). Patients were parsed into Active and Sedentary groups based on their Yale profiles, with Active participants engaged in walking activities, weekly, over 1 year. Here, Sedentary patients had a significant decline in MMSE scores, while the Active patients had an attenuation in global cognitive decline. Importantly, among the Active AD patients, those individuals who engaged in walking for more than 2 h/week had a significant improvement in MMSE scores. Structured clinical trials which seek to increase the amount of time AD patients were engaged in walking activities and evaluate the nature and scope of beneficial effects in the brain are warranted.

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APA 7th

Winchester, J., Dick, M. B., Gillen, D., Reed, B., Miller, B., Tinklenberg, J., et al. (2013). Walking stabilizes cognitive functioning in Alzheimer's disease (AD) across one year. Archives of gerontology and geriatrics. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.archger.2012.06.016

Vancouver

Winchester J, Dick MB, Gillen D, Reed B, Miller B, Tinklenberg J, et al. Walking stabilizes cognitive functioning in Alzheimer's disease (AD) across one year. Archives of gerontology and geriatrics. 2013. doi:10.1016/j.archger.2012.06.016. PMID: 22959822.

BibTeX

@article{winchester2013-22959822,
  author  = {Winchester, J. and Dick, M. B. and Gillen, D. and Reed, B. and Miller, B. and Tinklenberg, J. and Mungas, D. and Chui, H. and others},
  title   = {{Walking stabilizes cognitive functioning in Alzheimer's disease (AD) across one year}},
  journal = {Archives of gerontology and geriatrics},
  year    = {2013},
  doi     = {10.1016/j.archger.2012.06.016},
  pmid    = {22959822},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.archger.2012.06.016}
}

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Key findings

Our results demonstrated that the patients spent little time engaged in physical activity in general, their overall activity levels decreased over time, and this was paired with a change in global cognition (e.g., MMSE total score) and affect/mood (e.g., POMS score).
Here, Sedentary patients had a significant decline in MMSE scores, while the Active patients had an attenuation in global cognitive decline.
Importantly, among the Active AD patients, those individuals who engaged in walking for more than 2 h/week had a significant improvement in MMSE scores.

Why it matters

This one-year study of early-stage Alzheimer's disease patients found that sedentary patients had significant decline in MMSE scores while active patients, who walked weekly, had less decline in global cognition. It suggests walking may help stabilize cognitive functioning, but it is an observational study and not a test of a cure or prevention.

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Study details

Participants104
Effect size69.8%; 20.1%
Evidence strengthLow

How this study scored 51/100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	7 / 10	Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Archives of gerontology and geriatrics)
Journal's citation record	1 / 4	Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics: journal h-index 132 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29)
Study design	0 / 12	No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Strength of evidence	1 / 5	Rated “low” in our summary
Peer-review validation	10 / 10	Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal.
How recent	1 / 5	2013 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	2 / 4	104 participants
Effect reported	2 / 3	Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test
Studied in people	3 / 3	Studied in people (participant count stated)
Randomised / blinded	0 / 2	No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Times cited	5 / 7	Cited 121 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	3 / 5	8.1 citations a year over 15 year(s) since 2013
Impact for its field and year	4 / 6	Cited 8.0× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	0 / 6	No other study in this library cites it
Still being cited	1 / 4	Cited 13 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	4 / 4	Last-listed author Carl W. Cotman: h-index 166 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	3 / 3	Stanford University: institution h-index 2,684 (OpenAlex)
Multi-centre collaboration	2 / 3	OpenAlex lists 6 institution(s) in 1 country
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 22959822)
Free to read	0 / 2	Behind a paywall — scores zero
Total	51 / 100	—

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