Inspiring Seniors Toward Exercise Promotion

University of North Carolina, Greensboro54 enrolled

Overview

The goal of this clinical trial is to test the benefits of beat-accented music stimulation (BMS) for behavioral changes of physical activity (PA) in older adults. Specific Aims are to determine (1) whether BMS beneficially influences PA behaviors and psychological responses to PA in older adults for 6 months, and (2) whether exercising with BMS differently influences physical and cognitive functioning as well as quality of life in older adults. To test the effects of BMS on PA, participants will be randomly assigned to an exercise intervention that either includes BMS or does not include BMS. Participants will attend a supervised group strength training (ST) (30 min/day) and aerobic exercise (AE) (30-50 min/day) session for 3 days/week for the first 2 months, 1 day/week for the next 2 months (while encouraging participants to independently perform both AE and ST on other days), and independently for the final 2 months (always with a goal of performing \>150min/week AE and 3 days/week of ST for 30 min/day.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

SINGLE

Enrollment

Conditions

Cognitively Normal Older Adults

Interventions

Individualized play lists of music with the beats accentuated will be developed at a range of cadences. The music intervention is such that during strength training participants will be asked to sync their concentric and eccentric muscle contractions in time with the tempo of playlists. For aerobic exercise (AE), the tempo of playlists will be adjusted to match individual walking cadence for participants to be trained to walk in sync with the beats of the playlists.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 65 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * At least 65 years old. * Ambulatory/capable of walking for 6 minutes without pain or aid such as a walker/cane. * Able to speak and read English. * Healthy enough to exercise at moderate intensity with or without medical clearance by a primary care physician. * Living in the community for the duration of the study (6 months). * Having a reliable means of transportation. * Having a safe place (at least 6 feet by 6 feet of open space) at home for unsupervised exercise training. * Having no diagnosis or symptoms of cognitive impairment. * Having no symptoms of suicidal ideation and not meeting criteria for depressive disorder. * Physically low-active by doing \< 60 min/week of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise and no strength training for the last 3 months. Exclusion Criteria: * Diagnosis of neurological disorder or spinal cord disorder. * Known exercise contraindications. * Current cancer treatment. * Stroke or neural impairment in the past 6 months. * Hip/knee/spinal fracture or surgery in the past 6 month. * Unable or unwilling to attend intervention classes 3x/week in Months 1-2 and 1x/week in Months 3-4. * Currently participating in any other physical activity or fitness-related research study. * Use of medication for Alzheimer's disease. * Change in dosage of medications prescribed for anxiety or depression within the previous 6 months. * Regularly drink \> 14 alcoholic beverages a week or current illicit drug use. * Having no diagnosis or symptoms of cognitive impairment. * Meet the threshold for clinical depression. * Uncorrected hearing or visual impairments. * Unable to understand the study procedures. * One of the household members is participating in this study.

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Physical activity (objective)

Physical activity behavior assessed using accelerometry

Time frame: Accelerometers will be worn for 4 days at baseline and months 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA): Affective response to PA

Captures the shift in core affective valence (feeling good vs bad) from pre-PA to during-PA.

Time frame: Will be collected using EMA for 4 days at baseline and months 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA): Perceived autonomy

Assesses participant's perceived autonomy over exercise behavior.

Time frame: Will be collected using EMA for 4 days at baseline and months 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA): Perceived exertion

Assesses participant's perceived exertion during PA.

Time frame: Will be collected using EMA for 4 days at baseline and months 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA): Behavioral intention

Assesses degree to which participant intends to engage in PA.

Time frame: Will be collected using EMA for 4 days at baseline and months 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA): Physical Activity setting

Assessed the physical and social setting in which a participant engages in physical activity.

Time frame: Will be collected using EMA for 4 days at baseline and months 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA): Anticipated, remembered, and incidental affect

Will assess how participant expects to feel after engaging in PA, how participant remembers feeling after engaging in PA, and how participant currently feels.

Time frame: Will be collected using EMA for 4 days at baseline and months 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA): Social Support for Exercise

Measures with whom a person is exercising

Time frame: Will be collected using EMA for 4 days at baseline and months 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Physical activity (self-report)

Aerobic exercise and strength training self-reported

Time frame: Will be reported daily from the first day of the intervention to the last day of the intervention (6 months)

Secondary Outcomes

Cognitive performance - General

Assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment. Scores range from 0-30 with a higher score indicative of a better outcome.