Sijia Xia, Feng Chen, Wenju Wang, Tao Jiang, Jingfang Zhu, Lei Yang, Minguang Yang, Qing Xiang, Weilin Liu
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Introduction: Cognitive frailty (CF) is a clinical syndrome characterised by the concurrent occurrence of physical frailty and cognitive impairment, excluding Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia. Recent studies have shown that combining aerobic exercise (AE) and meditation (ME) effectively enhances both physical and cognitive functions in individuals with CF. The study aims to determine whether the combined application of AE and ME can elicit significantly greater improvements in physical and cognitive functions among individuals with CF compared with the independent practice of either AE or ME alone.
Methods and analysis: The research design employs a four-arm, assessor-blind randomised controlled trial. A total of 140 qualified subjects will be randomly allocated among four groups: AE, ME, AE combined with ME and a health education control group, ensuring equivalent distribution across groups. The intervention phase of the study will last for 12 weeks. The primary outcomes will include the Edmonton Frailty Scale, while secondary outcomes will encompass evaluations of cognitive functions (including global cognitive function, memory, attention, executive function and visuospatial abilities), physical performance (measured by gait speed and lower extremity strength), subjective experiences (such as fatigue, quality of life, mindfulness, mood and sleep quality), as well as structural and functional MRI assessments and serum biomarkers. Outcomes will be evaluated at baseline and following the 12-week intervention.
Ethics and dissemination: The Ethics Committee of the Affiliated Rehabilitation Hospital of the Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine granted ethical approval for the study (2023KY-012-02). The findings will be disseminated through publications in peer-reviewed journals and presentations at academic conferences.
期刊介绍:
BMJ Open is an online, open access journal, dedicated to publishing medical research from all disciplines and therapeutic areas. The journal publishes all research study types, from study protocols to phase I trials to meta-analyses, including small or specialist studies. Publishing procedures are built around fully open peer review and continuous publication, publishing research online as soon as the article is ready.