ENHANCING PHYSICAL and COGNITIVE EFFICIENCY in INDIVIDUALS AT RISK of DEMENTIA USING WHOLE-BODY ELECTROMYOSTIMULATION

University of Molise

Status: Completed

Conditions: Mild Cognitive Impairment

Treatments: Other: Whole Body Electromyostimulation; Behavioral: control group

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06669598

11487/2020

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of twelve weeks whole-body electrical muscle stimulation combined with aerobic exercises.

Full description

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of twelve weeks of WB-EMS (whole-body electrical muscle stimulation at 35Hz and 350 μs) combined with aerobic exercises on a treadmill and rowing machine, in improving physical and cognitive performance in older adults, both healthy and at risk of dementia. The results were compared with those obtained from the same training without WB-EMS.

Enrollment: 61 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 55 to 85 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• age from 55 to 85 years;
• no simultaneous participation in any type of supervised physical activity;
• Sedentary lifestyle

Exclusion criteria

• mini-mental state examination (MMSE) score of less than 24;
• inability to walk for 6 min without assistance;
• the presence of a medical condition influencing the cognitive and/or motor functions;
• the presence of any counter indication for the utilisation of EMS, such as cardiovascular diseases, stents, cardiac pacemakers, and diabetes mellitus, verified by medical certification.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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61 participants in 2 patient groups

Experimental Training Group

Experimental group

Description:

The ETG group underwent in two 20-minute training sessions per week, with 72 hours of rest between sessions. Each session included aerobic activities such as rowing and treadmill exercises, combined with supervised WB-EMS stimulation. This stimulation utilised a rectangular waveform at 35 Hz, 350 μs, with continuous pulse duration. The intensity of this training modality was set based on heart rate reserve (HRR), starting at 60% HRR in the first week and increasing by 5% every 3 weeks, reaching 80% HRR by the twelfth week.

Treatment:

Other: Whole Body Electromyostimulation

Control group

Active Comparator group

Description:

The CON group underwent three weekly training sessions for twelve weeks, con-sisting of 20 minutes of aerobic activity, performed on a treadmill and rowing machine, without the WB-EMS superimposition.

Treatment:

Behavioral: control group