Behavioral Intervention for Lifestyle Physical Activity in Parkinson's Disease
University of Illinois at Chicago
Summary
The investigators propose a Stage-I randomized controlled trial (RCT) of a remotely-delivered, 16-week social-cognitive theory-based behavioral intervention focusing on combined exercise (aerobic and resistance) training for yielding increases in device-measured physical activity and improvements in cognitive function, symptoms, and quality of life (QOL), and social-cognitive theory (SCT) outcomes among physically inactive persons with Parkinson's disease (PD). Participants (N=50) will be randomly assigned into exercise training (combined aerobic and resistance exercise) condition or active control (flexibility and stretching) condition. The 16-week intervention will be delivered and monitored remotely within a participant\'s home/community and supported by Zoom-based chats guided by SCT via a behavioral coach. Participants will receive training materials (e.g., prescriptive manual and exercise equipment), one-on-one coaching, action-planning via calendars, self-monitoring via logs, and SCT-based newsletters. The investigators hypothesize that the home-based exercise intervention will yield improvements in cognitive, symptomatic, and QOL outcomes.
Description
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder of the dopamine-producing nerve cells in the basal ganglia, and age is a primary risk factor for PD. Cognitive impairment is prevalent, disabling, and poorly managed among the 1 million adults living with PD in the United States. Indeed, cognitive impairment begins early in PD, and dementia develops in 80% of persons with PD. Cognitive impairment is further associated with worse fatigue, depression, anxiety, pain, and quality of life (QOL) in PD. Those observations underscore the importance of identifying efficacious approaches for manag…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 50+ years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria: * confirmed diagnosis of PD * Internet and email access * willingness to complete the cognitive assessments and questionnaires, wear the accelerometer, and undergo randomization * insufficient physical activity (i.e., not meeting current physical activity guidelines) based on a health contribution score of less than 14 units from the Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire * self-reported ability to ambulate without assistance * age of 50+ years * English as a primary language * asymptomatic (i.e., one or fewer affirmatives on the Physical Activity Readiness Questionnair…
Interventions
- BehavioralGET Up PD
* The exercise training prescription involves performing 3 days per week and include (a) aerobic exercise: 30+ minutes of moderate-intensity walking (≥100 steps/min) monitored by a waist-worn pedometer, and (b) resistance training: 1-3 sets, 8-12 repetitions of 5-10 exercises targeting lower and upper body, and core muscle groups using elastic bands. * Other components of the GET Up PD program include appropriate exercise equipment (pedometer, resistance bands), one-on-one coaching sessions via Zoom, action-planning via calendars, logbooks for self-monitoring, and SCT-based newsletters.
- BehavioralStretching and Flexibility
* The training will involve the same frequency, duration, timeline, behavior change content, and interactions with behavioral coach as the GET Up PD program, and account for activity, social-contact, and attention. * Other components of the Stretching and Flexibility program include appropriate exercise equipment (yoga mat), one-on-one coaching sessions via Zoom, calendars, logbooks and newsletters similar to the GET Up PD program.
Location
- University of Illinois at ChicagoChicago, Illinois