Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32192537›Full record

Trial reportAlzheimer's research & therapy2020

Effects of low- and high-intensity physical exercise on physical and cognitive function in older persons with dementia: a randomized controlled trial.

L M J Sanders, T Hortobágyi, E G A Karssemeijer, E A Van der Zee, E J A Scherder, M J G van Heuvelen

Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Alzheimer's research & therapy, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06181500 (Home-Based Exercise in Primary Progressive Aphasia), which is not on this map. Cited by 67 papers, 16 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
67citing papers in PubMed, 16 pooled it
9.5field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT06181500 nacompletednot on this mapstarted 2023, after this paper: background citation

Home-Based Exercise in Primary Progressive Aphasia: A Pilot Study

TypeinterventionalSponsorMontreal Heart InstituteRan2023 to 2024Enrolled13ConditionsPrimary Progressive Aphasia, Neurodegenerative Diseases, Logopenic Progressive Aphasia, Semantic DementiaArmsHome-based multicomponent exercise intervention program
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

67 citing papers in PubMed, 16 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 137 citations in OpenAlex.

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  18. Temporal dissociation between heart rate recovery and heart rate variability recovery after submaximal exercise in healthy older adults.European review of aging and physical activity : official journal of the European Group for Research into Elderly and Physical Activity · 2026
    Article
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7 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

L M J SandersCenter for Human Movement Sciences, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Antonius Deusinglaan 1, 9713 AV, Groningen, The Netherlands. l.m.j.sanders@umcg.nl.
T HortobágyiCenter for Human Movement Sciences, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Antonius Deusinglaan 1, 9713 AV, Groningen, The Netherlands.
E G A KarssemeijerDepartment of Geriatric Medicine, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Geert Grooteplein Zuid 10, 6525 GA, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
E A Van der ZeeGroningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences (GELIFES), University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 7, 9747 AG, Groningen, The Netherlands.
E J A ScherderDepartment of Clinical Neuropsychology, VU University Amsterdam, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081 BT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
M J G van HeuvelenCenter for Human Movement Sciences, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Antonius Deusinglaan 1, 9713 AV, Groningen, The Netherlands.
University Medical Center Groningen · NLUniversity of Groningen · NLRadboud University Nijmegen · NLVrije Universiteit Amsterdam · NL

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPotential moderators such as exercise intensity or apolipoprotein-E4 (ApoE4) carriership may determine the magnitude of exercise effects on physical and cognitive functions in patients with dementia (PwD). We determined the effects of a 24-week aerobic and strength training program with a low- and high-intensity phase on physical and cognitive function.

methodsIn an assessor-blinded randomized trial, 91 PwD (all-cause dementia, recruited from daycare and residential care facilities, age 82.3 ± 7.0 years, 59 women, Mini-Mental State Examination 20.2 ± 4.4) were allocated to the exercise or control group. In the exercise group, PwD participated in a walking and lower limb strength training program with 12 weeks low- and 12 weeks high-intensity training offered three times/week. Attention-matched control participants performed flexibility exercises and recreational activities. We assessed adherence, compliance, and exercise intensity for each session. We assessed physical (endurance, gait speed, mobility, balance, leg strength) and cognitive (verbal memory, visual memory, executive function, inhibitory control, psychomotor speed) functions with performance-based tests at baseline and after 6, 12, 18, 24, and 36 weeks (follow-up). ApoE4 carriership was determined post-intervention.

resultsSixty-nine PwD were analyzed. Their mean attendance was ~ 60% during the study period. There were no significant effects of the exercise vs. control intervention on endurance, mobility, balance, and leg strength in favor of the exercise group (Cohen's d = 0.13-0.18). Gait speed significantly improved with ~ 0.05 m/s after the high-intensity phase for exercise participants (Cohen's d = 0.41) but declined at follow-up. There were no significant effects of the exercise vs. control intervention on any of the cognitive measures (Cohen's d ~ - 0.04). ApoE4 carriership did not significantly moderate exercise effects on physical or cognitive function.

conclusionsExercise was superior to control activities for gait speed in our sample of PwD. However, the training effect provided no protection for mobility loss after detraining (follow-up). There were no beneficial effects of the exercise vs. control group on cognitive function. Exercise intensity moderated the effects of exercise on gait speed. ApoE4 carriership moderated the effect of exercise on global cognition only (trend level).

trial registrationNetherlands Trial Register, NTR5035. Registered on 2 March 2015.

Indexed as

CognitionDementiaExercise TherapyAgedAged, 80 and overExerciseFemaleHumansNetherlandsApoE4Cognitive declineDementiaDose-response relationshipExercise intensityPhysical exercise

Identifiers

PMID32192537
PMCPMC7082953
OpenAlexW3012896574

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.