Clinical trial NCT03368482: Brain Gym® Exercises for Institutionalized Elderly People With Cognitive Impairment
Official title: Brain Gym® Exercises for Institutionalized Elderly People With Cognitive Impairment: Findings From a Comparative Study.
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Cognition Disorders in Old Age
Physical Activity
Keywords: cognition disorders
frail elderly
human physical conditioning
institutionalization
physical activity
Lead sponsor: University of Vigo
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2017-12-11
Enrollment: 50
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 65
Standard ages: OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: Scientific evidence regarding the effects of Brain Gym®, on people with cognitive impairment is scarce. This study aimed at comparing the effects of a program based on Brain Gym® exercises against a fitness exercise program on the cognitive function, functional independence, physical fitness and quality of life in institutionalized older adults with cognitive impairment.

Detailed description: Cognitive training and physical exercise have been regarded as useful strategies in order to improve the cognitive function in older people with cognitive impairment. In this regard, it has been argued that while physical exercise improves the metabolic activity of the brain, the performance of cognitively demanding tasks increases the amount of dendritic branches and the level of synaptic plasticity, implying that the combination of both therapies may result in synergistic effects that positively influence various cognitive domains in different ways. One of the best known therapies which combines mental and physical training is Brain Gym® (BG), a movement-based program originally designed to improve learning capabilities through the performance of mind-body exercises. Brain Gym® can be considered as an interesting field of research due to the need of identifying novel therapies which might be more pleasant for older adults who tend not to be prone to participating in conventional exercise programs and might have a positive effect on their cognitive function. In spite of this, scientific evidence regarding the effects of BG on people with cognitive impairment is scarce and none of the studies compared the potential benefits of BG versus traditional exercise programs for this population. Moreover, to the authors' knowledge no study of this kind has been published so far. Under these circumstances, the present study aims at identifying the potential benefits of performing BG exercises on the cognitive function, functional independence, physical fitness, and quality of life of institutionalized older people with cognitive impairment, as well as at finding out whether the effects are more significant than those produced by a traditional exercise program.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion criteria:

* Older than 65 years old.
* Mean score ≤ 24 in the Spanish adapted version of the Mini-Mental State Examination.
* Cognitive and co-operative ability to follow simple instructions.

Exclusion criteria:

• Individuals whose medical condition hindered or prevented their full and complete participation in the evaluation tests.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Assessment of the changes in participants' cognitive function.
timeFrame: 10 weeks
measure: Assessment of the changes in participants' functional independence.
timeFrame: 10 weeks
measure: Assessment of the changes in participants' health-related self-perceived quality of life.
timeFrame: 10 weeks
measure: Assessment of the changes in participants' fitness level.
timeFrame: 10 weeks
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Panxón
country: Spain
facility: Fundación San Rosendo
state: Pontevedra
Study officials:
References: