Effects of Descending Stair Walking
NCT Number: NCT06574854
Acronym: DSW
Status: RECRUITING
Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
Phases: NA
Conditions: Obesity
Interventions: OTHER: DSW|OTHER: ASW
Sponsor: Universiti Sains Malaysia
Collaborators: Ministry of Health, Malaysia
Sex: FEMALE
Age: ADULT
Enrollment: 24
Study Design: Allocation: RANDOMIZED|Intervention Model: PARALLEL|Masking: NONE|Primary Purpose: PREVENTION
Start Date: 2023-08-01
Completion Date: 2025-03-30
Locations: Wellness Hub Timur Laut, Pulau Pinang, George Town, Penang (Pulau Pinang), 10150, Malaysia

Summary:
The global rise in the prevalence of physical inactivity is major public health concern. Lifestyle-related activities, such as stairs walking, has important public health implications and may represent an alternative approach for those who have difficulty adhering to conventional exercise programs. This two-armed, parallel-group, randomized controlled trial (RCT) aims to assess and compare the effects between the descending stair walking (DSW) and ascending stair walking (ASW) on cardiometabolic health markers, cardiopulmonary capacity, body composition and muscular strength.

This RCT will recruit 16 obese inactive and sedentary females will be randomized using permuted block randomization into two arms: intervention arm, DSW and active comparator arm: ASW in a 1:1 allocation ratio. The participants in the DSW and ASW arms will undergo twice a week stair walking intervention session for 8 weeks. The exercise volume will be gradually increased over 8 weeks by increasing the number of repetitions by two every week for both arms. Borg's scale of perceived exertion (RPE) and visual analogue scale (VAS) will be used to assess subjective intensity of stair walking and pain intensity immediately after each repetition. Assessments will be carried out through two time points, pre-intervention assessment (T0) and immediately after completion of the intervention at 8 weeks (T1). During each assessment, the primary outcome to be assessed includes the cardiometabolic health markers and cardiopulmonary capacity, while the secondary outcomes to be assessed are the body composition and muscular strength. Whereas during the intervention, continuous heart rate and gas consumption will be monitored at week 1 (W1), week 4 (W4) and week 8 (W8) to monitor the intensity of the exercise.

Primary Outcome Measures: Total Cholesterol, Changes in Total Cholesterol (mmol/L) from baseline, 8 weeks|Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol, Changes in Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (mmol/L) from baseline, 8 weeks|High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol, Changes in High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (mmol/L) from baseline, 8 weeks|Trigliceride, Changes in Trigliceride (mmol/L) from baseline, 8 weeks|Fasting Plasma Glucose, Changes in Fasting Plasma Glucose (mmol/L) from baseline, 8 weeks|Resting Heart Rate, Changes in Resting Heart Rate (beat.min) from baseline, 8 weeks|Resting Blood Pressure, Changes in Resting Diastolic and Systolic Blood Pressure (mm/Hg) from baseline, 8 weeks|Resting Energy Expenditure, Changes in Resting Energy Expenditure (kcal/day) from baseline, 8 weeks|Alanine Aminotransferase, Changes in Alanine Aminotransferase (U/L) from baseline, 8 weeks|Alanine Aspartate transaminase, Changes in Alanine Aspartate transaminase (U/L) from baseline, 8 weeks
Secondary Outcome Measures: Body Mass, Changes in body mass (kg)from baseline, 8 weeks|Body Mass Index (BMI), Changes in BMI (kg/m2)from baseline, 8 weeks|Percentage body fat, Changes in percentage body fat (%) from baseline, 8 weeks|Lean Body Mass, Changes in lean body mass (kg) from baseline, 8 weeks|Waist Circumference, Changes in waist circumference (cm) from baseline, 8 weeks|Hip Circumference, Changes in hip circumference (cm) from baseline, 8 weeks|Isometric Muscular Strength, Changes in back \& leg isometric (kg) from baseline, 8 weeks|Cardiorespiratory Capacity-6 Minute Walking Test, Changes in distance (m) covered from baseline, 8 weeks