12 Weeks Orienteering Program Exercise on Older Adults

Community-dwelling Older Adults Clinical Trial

Official title:

Effects of Orientation Exercise Program on Older Adults, Motor Skills, Cognitive and Emotional State: a Pilot Study

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Enrolling by invitation

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT05937009
• Other study ID #: Franclim Martins
• Status: Enrolling by invitation
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: July 1, 2023
• Est. completion date: January 1, 2024

Study information

• Verified date: July 2023
• Source: University of Évora
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

This study aims to determine the effects of an orientation exercise program addressed to old on physical-motor, cognitive, and affective competencies.

This quasi-experimental study is a controlled trial involving an orientation exercise program. The program will run for 12 weeks (3 sessions per week).

Participants will be clustered into two groups: the experimental group will perform the exercise orientation sessions, and the control group will maintain regular activities routines. Evaluations will be performed before and after the intervention.

After the study is finished, the control group will attend a similar exercise program.

Description:

The aging process is lived for all and is associated with uncountable limitations, such as physical, psychological, cognitive, or emotional, that daily translate into difficulty in accomplishing normal activities (2). Simple tasks such as getting up and sitting, carrying a shopping bag, or climbing some stairs, start being seen as an obstacle, much because of aging and the associated decline in physical and cognitive competencies such as balance, limb strength, aerobic capacity, motor coordination, processing speed, memory, executive functioning and, consequently, affective competences, such as emotional states and depression may also be compromised (1).

Despite the above, it is known that there are some ways and alternatives that, even not reversing the aging process, might delay it, promoting healthy aging (6). Scientific advances recommend regular physical exercise since exercise ensures a more active lifestyle and, therefore, a less dependent on others' life. There are many options that physical exercise professionals can choose for planning physical exercise programs for older people (3).

Nonetheless, instead of exercise planning training prescription, other options can be used to achieve healthy aging. In alternative to traditional exercise training, sporting modalities, such as orientation, may benefit this population.

According to a study, after applying a protocol that included changes to the terrain to improve older adults' balance, there were significant improvements in their stride time (4).

Other studies done within the same area, which applied one questionnaire on functional well-being, and four scales on depression, gastrointestinal system, physical activity, and healthy index to senior athletes between the ages of 67 and 71, found significant improvements in all the referred parameters except for the depression scale where the control group made up of older adults who do not practice the modality showed better results (5).

However, the literature is scarce concerning the participation in orientation programs by the elderly population, namely in terms of this program's effect on aerobic capacity, lower limb strength, motor coordination, processing speed, memory, and executive functioning.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Enrolling by invitation
• Enrollment: 54
• Est. completion date: January 1, 2024
• Est. primary completion date: July 1, 2023
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 65 Years to 75 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Aged 65-75 years old;

• Locomotor independent capacity;

• Independent living in the community;

• Historical of physical activity practice;

• Attended, at least, the 3º school grade.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Cognitive impairment such < 15 points in Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE);

• Evidence of neuromuscular disturb;

• Use of medication that conditions the performance of the orientation exercise tasks.

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Community-dwelling Older Adults

Intervention

Other:
• Orienteering exercise program
Orienteering exercise program running for 12 weeks (30-45 minutes, 3 sessions/week). Sessions will have 4 phases: 1) Signature of attendance sheet; 2) warm-up exercises for 5 minutes; 3) Start of orienteering proofs, where the departs will occur individually, with 3 interval minutes between participants; 4) stretches session, to return to a calm state.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Portugal	Universidade de Évora	Évora

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University of Évora

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Portugal, 

References & Publications (6)

Bliss ES, Wong RH, Howe PR, Mills DE. Benefits of exercise training on cerebrovascular and cognitive function in ageing. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab. 2021 Mar;41(3):447-470. doi: 10.1177/0271678X20957807. Epub 2020 Sep 20. — View Citation

Eckstrom E, Neukam S, Kalin L, Wright J. Physical Activity and Healthy Aging. Clin Geriatr Med. 2020 Nov;36(4):671-683. doi: 10.1016/j.cger.2020.06.009. Epub 2020 Aug 19. — View Citation

Hemmeter UM, Ngamsri T. [Physical Activity and Mental Health in the Elderly]. Praxis (Bern 1994). 2022;110(4):193-198. doi: 10.1024/1661-8157/a003853. German. — View Citation

McCarthy, I., Suzuki, T., Tyler, N. & Holloway, C. (2016). Mobility in the built environment: Age-related changes in gait characteristics when walking on complex terrain. Healthy Aging Research, 5:10.

Ostlund-Lagerstrom L, Blomberg K, Algilani S, Schoultz M, Kihlgren A, Brummer RJ, Schoultz I. Senior orienteering athletes as a model of healthy aging: a mixed-method approach. BMC Geriatr. 2015 Jul 8;15:76. doi: 10.1186/s12877-015-0072-6. — View Citation

Thomas E, Battaglia G, Patti A, Brusa J, Leonardi V, Palma A, Bellafiore M. Physical activity programs for balance and fall prevention in elderly: A systematic review. Medicine (Baltimore). 2019 Jul;98(27):e16218. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000016218. — View Citation

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Change from the beginning, between groups comparison, in physical competencies	Fullerton Advance Balance Scale to assess balance, ranging from 0 (worst) to 40 (best) points	0, 12 weeks
Primary	Change from the beginning, between groups comparison, in physical competencies	Senior Fitness Test, 6 minutes walking to assess aerobic capacity, measure in meters	0, 12 weeks
Primary	Change from the beginning, between groups comparison, in physical competencies	Senior Fitness Test, Sit and Stand to assess limb strength, measure by the number of repetitions	0, 12 weeks
Primary	Change from the beginning, between groups comparison, in physical competencies	Soda Pop Test to assess motor coordination.	0, 12 weeks
Primary	Change from the beginning, between groups comparison, in cognitive competencies	Trail Making Test (Part A and B) to assess processing speed and executive functioning, measure in seconds	0, 12 weeks
Primary	Change from the beginning, between groups comparison, in cognitive competencies	Rey Auditory Verbal Test to assess memory, measure in seconds	0, 12 weeks
Primary	Change from the beginning, between groups comparison, in affective competencies	Profile of Mood States to assess mood states, ranging from -32 (best) to 200 (worst) points	0, 12 weeks
Primary	Change from the beginning, between groups comparison, in affective competencies	Geriatric Depression Scale to assess depression state, ranging from 0 (best) to 30 (worst) points	0, 12 weeks
Secondary	Cognitive impairment	Mini-Mental State Examination, ranging from 0 (worst) to 30 (best) points	0 weeks