Effect of Low- Power Laser Therapy with Aerobic Exercise on Anthropometric Measures and Selected Coagulation Biomarkers in Obese Older Adults: Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Aerobic exercise and laser therapy intervention have been recommended to reduce risks of vascular diseases especially in obese older adults; however, the combined effect of low-power laser therapy (LPLT) and aerobic exercise on coagulation profile has not yet been investigated. Therefore, we aim to compare the combined effect of LPLT and aerobic exercise versus aerobic exercise only on anthropometric measures and selected coagulation biomarkers in obese older adults. Patients and methods: obese older adults (60-75 years) of both sexes were enrolled randomly into experimental and control groups which received LPLT added to treadmill aerobic exercise and treadmill aerobic exercise only respectively, for three months. Pre and post-intervention assessment included anthropometric measures (weight, Quetelet index, and waist-to-hip ratio WHR), selected serum coagulation markers comprising (factor I, D-dimer, and prothrombin time PT), active partial thromboplastin time (APTT), total cholesterol (TC), and C-reactive protein (CRP). Results: the experimental group demonstrated highly significant improvement in all assessed variables (P < 0.001) compared with the control group (p< 0.05). Conclusion: The combined application of LPLT and aerobic exercise induced favorable effects on coagulation biomarkers and reduced thromboembolism risk in obese older adults rather than aerobic exercise only. Therefore, we recommend LPLT application in highly risk hypercoagulable cases. Clinical Trial Registration Details: The study was registered on (https://register.clinicaltrials.gov with an identifier number: NCT04503317. Funding Information: The authors received no financial support for the research or publication. Declaration of Interests: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest. Ethics Approval Statement: This randomized controlled parallel study followed the new CONSORT Statement [13], and was conducted according to the Declaration of Helsinki and complied with all regulations and confirmation that informed consent was obtained from all participants before active enrollment with a full explanation of the study purpose and procedures. The study was carried out over one year from January 2020 and approved by Faculty of physical therapy ethical committee board, Cairo University, Egypt (no: P.T.REC/012/002724).