NCT04635462

The Cognitive and spOrt Virtual EPIC Training Study

The Cognitive and spOrt Virtual EPIC Training Study: INVESTIGATING THE EFFECTS OF HOME-BASED EXERCISE AND COGNITIVE TRAINING

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 127 (actual)
• Sponsor: Louis Bherer · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 50 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The proposed COVEPIC trial is designed to document the effects of remote monitoring of physical exercise and home-based cognitive training on cognitive and physical functions in older adults.

Detailed description

Due to the actual pandemic of COVID-19 around the world, social distancing is recommended, which causes a reduction of social interaction and physical activity. Therefore, this health crisis may have collateral effects on cognitive, physical, and psychological health, especially in elderly people who are more likely to be isolated, and for whom social distancing is of paramount importance. Physical exercise practice has been demonstrated to improve cognitive functioning, along with mobility and physical capacity, and to promote psychological well-being. This is the reason why governmental health authorities, as well as the scientific community recommend to stay physically active, especially in this pandemic period. However, in the current context full-time physical training in sport centres cannot be largely promoted. Effective solutions to help older adults in maintaining regular and efficient physical exercise while maintaining social distancing, are thus needed. Consequently, the current project proposes first to investigate the potential of a remote monitoring of physical activity to promote cognitive, physical and psychological health of older adults. Also, considering the added benefits of combining cognitive training to physical exercise to further enhance health and cognition in seniors, this project also addresses the added benefits of a multidomain intervention combining a physical exercise intervention with a home-based cognitive training.

Conditions

• Aging

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Physical exercise training	Participants will be encouraged to complete exercise training programs in the form of video capsules available via Facebook or Youtube, created by kinesiologists of the Montreal Heart Institut EPIC prevention center. The videos last about 15 minutes and include a warm-up of 3 to 5 minutes, followed a 10-minute training and finally a 2-minute cool-down period. The exercises on video do not require any equipment and integrate, depending on the video, aerobic, muscular strengthening, flexibility and/or balance exercises. Several intensities are described according to the participants' level. Participants will be invited to perform exercise sessions at least 5 times a week, and will be monitored weekly by phone by a member of the research team. The exercise sessions can be performed at home using the video training program, as well as in sports centre or outdoors. For each session, participants have to report its duration, intensity, and the nature of the activity via a follow-up agenda.
OTHER	Cognitive training	Participants will be encouraged to perform sessions of cognitive training 3 times per week (30 minutes/session). Two of these sessions will involve computer or tablet-based attentional control training targeting dual-tasking, updating and working memory, as well as inhibition and switching. Difficulty of cognitive training will be tailored to participants' performances. The remaining session will consist of memory training. Participants will be instructed different mnemotechnic, as well as be taught about memory in aging in general. The memory training will be provided by videos capsules. To track adherence to cognitive training, participants will be asked to complete a journal and mark days and times where they took part in the various cognitive training sessions.

Timeline

• Start date: 2020-05-18
• Primary completion: 2021-10-15
• Completion: 2022-05-18
• First posted: 2020-11-19
• Last updated: 2023-11-13

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Canada