Abstract
BackgroundPatients with stress-related exhaustion suffer from cognitive impairments, which often remain after psychological treatment or work place interventions. It is important to find effective treatments that can address this problem. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects on cognitive performance and psychological variables of a 12-week aerobic training program performed at a moderate-vigorous intensity for patients with exhaustion disorder who participated in a multimodal rehabilitation program.MethodsIn this open-label, parallel, randomized and controlled trial, 88 patients diagnosed with exhaustion disorder participated in a 24-week multimodal rehabilitation program. After 12 weeks in the program the patients were randomized to either a 12-week aerobic training intervention or to a control group with no additional training. Primary outcome measure was cognitive function, and secondary outcome measures were psychological health variables and aerobic capacity.ResultsIn total, 51% patients in the aerobic training group and 78% patients in the control group completed the intervention period. The aerobic training group significantly improved in maximal oxygen uptake and episodic memory performance. No additional improvement in burnout, depression or anxiety was observed in the aerobic group compared with controls.ConclusionAerobic training at a moderate-vigorous intensity within a multimodal rehabilitation program for patients with exhaustion disorder facilitated episodic memory. A future challenge would be the clinical implementation of aerobic training and methods to increase feasibility in this patient group.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03073772. Retrospectively registered 21 February 2017.
Highlights
Patients with stress-related exhaustion suffer from cognitive impairments, which often remain after psychological treatment or work place interventions
Mean volume change was 47.2 mm3, with a range from −269.6 mm3 to +387.5 mm3, eight participants decreased and four increased hippocampus volume. In this randomized controlled study, we examined if adding a 12-week aerobic training program to patients with exhaustion disorder (ED) enrolled in an multimodal rehabilitation (MMR) program facilitated cognitive performance and reduced levels of burnout, depression and anxiety more so than treatment as usual
Our results partially confirmed our hypothesis and showed that the aerobic training group significantly improved in VO2max and in episodic memory performance, as indicated by a medium effect size for this domain
Summary
Patients with stress-related exhaustion suffer from cognitive impairments, which often remain after psychological treatment or work place interventions. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects on cognitive performance and psychological variables of a 12-week aerobic training program performed at a moderate-vigorous intensity for patients with exhaustion disorder who participated in a multimodal rehabilitation program. ED is characterized by pronounced physical and mental exhaustion during at least two weeks, with identifiable stressors (work- or non-work-related) present for at least 6 months [2]. Memory and concentration problems are included in the diagnostic criteria and have been manifested as deficiencies in executive functions, attention, episodic and working memory [2]. Rehabilitation may be difficult and patients often still report mental symptoms [4], somatic
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