Abstract
BackgroundThe purpose of the Aging-ONDUAL-TASK study is to determine if a supervised dual-task program carried out in long-term nursing homes is able to attenuate frailty in a greater extent than the same multicomponent exercise program alone.MethodsThis multicenter randomized controlled trial will include 188 participants who will be randomly allocated to either a multicomponent exercise program or to the same multicomponent program with simultaneous cognitive training (dual-task training). Inclusion criteria are as follows: ≥ 70 years, ≥ 50 on the Barthel Index, ≥ 20 on the Mini Examen Cognoscitivo (MEC-35) who are able to stand up and walk independently for 10 m. Subjects in the multicomponent group will attend a twice-a-week multicomponent exercise program of 1-h duration per session, consisting of strength and balance exercises. Participants in the dual-task group will perform the same multicomponent exercise program with concurrent individually tailored cognitive tasks. Study assessments will be conducted at baseline and at 3 months. The primary outcome measure will be gait speed under dual-task conditions and secondary outcomes will include physical fitness measurements, gait spatiotemporal parameters, cognition and emotional assessments, several frailty scales and objectively measured physical activity.DiscussionThe present research will add valuable information to the knowledge around the effects of the dual-task program in long-term nursing home residents, taking altogether physical, cognitive and emotional variables linked to frailty.Trial registrationAustralian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR) with the identifier: ACTRN12618000536268. Registration date: 11/04/2018.
Highlights
The global increase in life expectancy and consequent aging of the population, leads to estimates that the number of dependent older adults will rise from 350 million in 2010 to 488 million by 2030 [1]
The current trial is a large multi-center randomized study aiming to investigate whether dual-task performance, including gait and cognitive parameters, can be improved by specific dual-task training
The results of the present study will add valuable knowledge about the effects of the dual-task program in long-term nursing home residents, taking together functional, cognitive, and emotional variables linked to frailty
Summary
Study design and participants Based on the proposed objective, an experimental multicentre simple randomized study was designed (AgingONDUAL-TASK). Multicomponent exercise program Feasibility and safety of the multicomponent exercise program were ascertained in a previous study which included full details on volume, intensity, and type of strength and balance exercises [32, 33]. Participants allocated to this group will attend a twice-a-week multicomponent exercise program of one-hour duration per session, consisting of strength and balance exercises conducted by an experienced physical trainer. The first week of the intervention will mainly serve to familiarize participants with the strength and balance exercises and adjust the level of difficulty of each cognitive function task to every participant in the group. One of the most important functions to train is attention, which will be applied in form of: 1) divided attention tasks (with a secondary physical or cognitive task) where participants will have to divide their attention to ensure task achievement; 2) sustained attention
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