NCT07207538

Physical Exercise in Patients With First Psychotic Episode

Impact of Physical Exercise on Telomere Length and Other Markers of Premature Ageing in First-episode Psychosis.

• Status: Not Yet Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 40 (estimated)
• Sponsor: University of Salamanca · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Justification: Patients with first-episode psychosis are at increased risk of premature ageing and early mortality, associated with telomere shortening and increased inflammatory markers. Physical exercise has shown protective effects in the general population, but there are no intervention studies in this population. Objective: To evaluate the effect of a strength training programme on telomere length and other markers of cellular ageing in people with a first episode of psychosis. Material and methods: Quasi-experimental study with patients aged 18-35 years included in the PRINT programme (Salamanca). Standard treatment will be compared with standard treatment plus a 12-week strength training programme. Telomere length (qPCR), inflammatory and senescence markers (proteomics), body composition, frailty and quality of life will be analysed. Applicability: The results could support the inclusion of physical exercise programmes as a complementary intervention in early psychosis care, promoting overall health, quality of life and reducing the gap in life expectancy compared to the general population.

Conditions

• Telomere Length
• Exercise
• First Episode Psychosis (FEP)

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Other: Strength physical exercise programme	12 multi-joint strength exercises will be developed. Participants will be taught the rating scale of perceived exertion (RPE) based on the number of repetitions in reserve (RIR). Participants will be asked that during the performance of each of the exercises they must perceive an effort between 7-8 within the overall score of the scale (0-10; 0 = no effort at all and 10 = cannot perform one more repetition, i.e. maximal effort). When subjects perform the 12 repetitions with lower perceived exertion than the set effort in two consecutive sessions with full range of motion the training load will be increased by about 2-10% following the American College of Sports Medicine guidelines and reassessed using the RIR-based RPE. Patients in the usual treatment group will continue to participate in their existing rehabilitation programmes, but will not be included in the strength training programme.
OTHER	Other: Normal life	Description: Normal life and carry out all the activities they have been doing previously.

Timeline

• Start date: 2026-01-01
• Primary completion: 2026-07-01
• Completion: 2026-12-31
• First posted: 2025-10-06
• Last updated: 2025-10-06