Inspiring Seniors Towards Exercise Promotion - 2

Purpose

Older adults' low adherence to the national physical activity guidelines may stem from a failure to increase positive affective responses to exercise (e.g., enjoyment). Exercising with personalized, tempo-synchronous music playlists has shown promising effects on physical activity promotion in midlife-to-older adults during a cardiac rehab program. The purpose of this study is to determine how personalized, tempo-synchronous music playlists called rhythmic auditory stimulation (RAS) influence exercise behavior change and affective responses to exercise over 8 months among community-dwelling, sedentary older adults.

Condition

  • Old Age

Eligibility

Eligible Ages
Over 65 Years
Eligible Sex
All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Inclusion Criteria

  • Adults over 65 years old. - Ambulatory without pain or the use of assisted walking devices. - Able to speak and read English. - Healthy enough to exercise at moderate intensity with or without medical clearance by a primary care physician. - Living in the community for the duration of the study (9-10 months). - Having a reliable means of transportation. - Having a safe place at home or at a residential area (at least 6 feet by 6 feet of open space) for unsupervised exercise training. - Being low-active (< 90 min/week of MAT and < 2 days/week of ST for the last 3 months).

Exclusion Criteria

  • Concurrent diagnosis of neurological disorder (e.g., dementia, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, etc.), determined by self-report on the Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire for Everyone (PAR-Q+). - Known exercise contraindications (uncontrolled hypertension, joint problems, diabetes, metabolic conditions, etc.), determined by self-report on the PAR-Q+. - Current or upcoming cancer treatment, determined by self-report on the PAR-Q+. - Stroke or neural impairment in the past 6 months, as self-reported on the PAR-Q+. - Hip/knee/spinal fracture or surgery in the past 6 months, determined by self-report on the ACSM Health Screening Questionnaire. - Unable or unwilling to attend intervention classes, as determined by phone screening. - Currently participating in any other exercise or fitness-related research study, determined by phone screening. - Use of medications for cognitive impairment, as self-reported on the medication survey. - Change in dosage of medications prescribed for anxiety or depression within the previous 6 months, determined by self-report on a medication form. - Self-report regularly drinking > 14 alcoholic beverages a week or current illicit drug use, determined by self-report to screening surveys. - Cannot ambulate without a walker/cane, assessed in the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Health Screening Questionnaire • Having cognitive impairment, determined by the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) BLIND < 17. - Meet the threshold for clinical depression, determined by the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale Revised (CESD-R). - Uncorrected hearing or visual impairments, self-reported on the Health History Questionnaire. - Unable to understand the study procedure. - One of the household members is participating in this study, as self-reported during phone screening.

Study Design

Phase
N/A
Study Type
Interventional
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention Model
Parallel Assignment
Primary Purpose
Prevention
Masking
Single (Participant)

Arm Groups

ArmDescriptionAssigned Intervention
Experimental
Exercise intervention with RAS (EX+RAS) 		Participants will be randomized to an exercise intervention with RAS (EX+RAS) over 6 months, offering the exercise prescription to foster independent adherence to the Physical Activity guidelines (PAG) through the gradual withdrawal of supervised training. This group will be provided with RAS playlists and trained to use them for their exercise sessions.
  • Behavioral: Exercise intervention with RAS (EX+RAS)
    Supervised exercise sessions will be led by an exercise specialist at an open-floor gym. All participants will be asked to attend a supervised group exercise session for moderate aerobic training (MAT) for 15-40 minutes/day and muscle-strengthening training (ST) for 15-20 minutes/day for 2 days/week for the first 3 months, while being encouraged to independently perform MAT on up to 3 more days/week. Then, the same training session will be offered for 1 day/week for an additional 3 months while encouraging participants to independently perform ST on 1 more day of the week and MAT up to 4 more days of the week. Participants will be instructed on set and track exercise goals, supplemented with a series of behavioral supports during the 6-month intervention and until a 2-month post-intervention follow-up.
Active Comparator
Exercise intervention without RAS (EX) 		Participants will be randomized to an exercise intervention (EX) over 6 months, offering the same exercise prescription as the experimental group, to foster independent adherence to the PAG through the gradual withdrawal of supervised training. This group will not be provided with any RAS playlists to accompany their exercise.
  • Behavioral: Exercise intervention without RAS (EX)
    Supervised exercise sessions will be led by an exercise specialist at an open-floor gym. All participants will be asked to attend a supervised group exercise session for moderate aerobic training (MAT) for 15-40 minutes/day and muscle-strengthening training (ST) for 15-20 minutes/day for 2 days/week for the first 3 months, while being encouraged to independently perform MAT on up to 3 more days/week. Then, the same training session will be offered for 1 day/week for an additional 3 months while encouraging participants to independently perform ST on 1 more day of the week and MAT up to 4 more days of the week. Participants will be instructed on set and track exercise goals, supplemented with a series of behavioral supports during the 6-month intervention and until a 2-month post-intervention follow-up.

Recruiting Locations

Emory University
Atlanta, Georgia 30329

More Details

Status
Recruiting
Sponsor
Emory University

Study Contact

Kaetlin Marsh, MPH
404-544-2381
kaetlin.marsh@emory.edu

Detailed Description

Participants 65 years and older will be offered an exercise program for six months, either with or without RAS. The exercise program is based on the national physical activity guidelines for older adults and designed to train participants to independently engage in strength training and moderate-intensity aerobic training through the gradual withdrawal of supervised exercise classes (2 days/week for 3 months and 1 day/week for an additional 3 months). At baseline, every month during the 6-month intervention, and 2-month post-intervention follow-up, we assess weekly volume of physical activity (primary outcome) using a hip-worn activity tracker and affective attitude toward physical activity (mechanistic outcome) through text-message-based ecological momentary assessment (EMA). Before and after the 6-month intervention, participants will complete a lab visit for the assessment of cognitive, vascular, and physical functioning, fitness, anthropometry, and quality of life.