Abstract
Background and objectives: Unhealthy, physically inactive lifestyles increase the risk of future cardiovascular events and impaired physical fitness in individuals with schizophrenia. Insufficient literature exists to provide fundamental information about appropriate exercise training modality for this population. This pilot study preliminarily investigated the effects of a 12-week moderate-intensity bench-step exercise training (BSET) program on cardiopulmonary fitness, mood state, and cognition in patients with schizophrenia. Methods: Twenty-eight patients with schizophrenia completed this study. The participants were allocated into either bench-step exercise-training (BSET; N = 14) or control (CTRL; N = 14) groups according to their preferences. The BSET group received a 12-week bench-step intervention, whereas the CTRL group did not participate in any training. The Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), 6-min walk test (6MWD), and Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) were assessed at baseline (PRE) and at the end of the intervention (POST) to determine mood state, endurance fitness, and attention, respectively. Results: After a 12-week BSET intervention, the 6MWD was significantly increased in the BSET (p = 0.007) but not in the CTRL (p > 0.05). The participants with BSET intervention showed a significant decrease in BDI-II at the end of the intervention (p = 0.03). However, SDMT scores were not different in both BSET and CTRL (p > 0.05). Conclusions: This study demonstrated that the 12-week intervention of moderate-intensity bench-step exercise training (frequency: 1 session/week; each session of 30 min; step cadence: 96 beats/min) might effectively enhance cardiopulmonary fitness and mood state in patients with schizophrenia. However, attention did not change after the bench-step exercise intervention.
Highlights
The Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) score was distributed within 0–13, and the 6-min walk distance (6MWD) distance ranged within 375–449.5 m (11, 39.3%)
Assessment score at participant baseline was 11.3 ± 11.6 (BSET) and 10.9 ± 9.5 (CTRL); the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) attention assessments did not show a difference between both groups (BSET: 30.7 ± 9.8 tasks; CTRL: 33.2 ± 10.7 tasks)
We further compared the differences between PRE and POST within each group and found that, after 12-week bench-step exercise training intervention, the 6MWD distance performance was significantly increased in the BSET group (p = 0.007; Cohen’s d effect size = 0.424, medium ES) but not in the CTRL
Summary
Evidence indicates that 1 in 100 individuals may develop a mental disorder at a certain point in their life [1]. The global prevalence of mental disorders is approximately 1%, with an incidence rate of 0.02–2.16 per 1000 individuals [2]. Insufficient literature exists to provide fundamental information about appropriate exercise training modality for this population. This pilot study preliminarily investigated the effects of a 12-week moderate-intensity bench-step exercise training (BSET) program on cardiopulmonary fitness, mood state, and cognition in patients with schizophrenia. The participants were allocated into either bench-step exercise-training (BSET; N = 14) or control (CTRL; N = 14) groups according to their preferences.
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