Physical Exercise for Prevention of Dementia

Physical Exercise and Prevention of Cognitive Decline in Subjects at Risk of Dementia: a Randomized Controlled Trial

The principal aim of this study is to verify whether a program of supervised, multimodal physical exercise improves cognitive function and/or reduces the rate of cognitive decline in older adults

Community-dwelling volunteers, recruited from social centers, were invited to an in-person assessment that included a medical history questionnaire and examination, anthropometric measurements, blood tests for cardiovascular risk, and several outcome measures. Participants meeting the inclusion criteria were divided in 3 groups (participants without subjective or objective cognitive impairment, with subjective memory complaints and with mild cognitive impairments) and randomly assigned (1:1) to an experimental group or a control group, using a list of random numbers generated by a statistical software. The list was kept in a sealed envelope and a researcher, not directly involved in the recruitment and in the evaluation of the participants, assigned the allocation numbers.

Inclusion Criteria:

Age > 50 years old

Exclusion Criteria:

• Medical conditions that compromise survival or limit physical activity
• Geriatric Depression Scale-15 score of 6 or higher
• Alcohol intake > 4 units/day
• Mini- Mental State Examination < 24
• Clinical Dementia Rating score of 1 or more