The Seniors COvid-19 Pandemic and Exercise Study (SCOPE)

University of British Columbia

Status: Completed

Conditions: Social Identification; Physical Activity; Quality of Life; Physical Health; Loneliness; Depression; Well-Being (Psychological Flourishing)

Treatments: Behavioral: Personal Exercise Intervention; Behavioral: Virtual Group Intervention

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04412343

H20-01515

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of this study is to evaluate different types of exercise programs (virtual group-based exercise program; personal exercise program; wait-list control) across 12-weeks on the physical and mental health of older adults during the current Covid-19 pandemic.

Enrollment: 241 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 65+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• 65+ years old
• be able to speak and read English
• one participant in the study per household (Spouses, significant others, or family members can take part in the exercise programs with the study participant; however, they will not be able to provide data and won't be remunerated for participating)
• not experience any contraindication which might prevent that person from participating in moderate-intensity physical activity.
• participants must be able to access the internet at home via a personal smartphone, tablet (e.g., ipad), or computer (device used must have camera capabilities)
• low active individuals (i.e., less than 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per week)
• currently living in Canada

Exclusion criteria

• age of less than 65 years
• unable to read and speak in English
• inability to participate in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (including a lack of ability to receive doctor's clearance for participating in physical activity)
• lack of internet access which does not allow them to access online materials
• device used to access the internet does not have a camera/video capabilities
• active individuals (e.g., participate in greater than 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity each week)
• living outside Canada
• not the first person from a household to enroll in the study

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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241 participants in 3 patient groups

Virtual group exercise

Experimental group

Description:

Individuals in the (virtual) group-based exercise program, will have the opportunity to take part in (virtual) group exercise classes, delivered via videoconferencing, by experienced older adult exercise instructors. Personnel who analyze the data collected from the study are not aware of the treatment applied to any given group. Classes will be offered multiple days a week at 9am PST (12 noon EST), and will last approximately 50 minutes. Classes include a warm-up component, moderate intensity exercises as the core component of the class, and a cool-down. At the end of classes participants will have the opportunity to connect in small groups (videoconferencing breakout groups) to socially connect over a beverage (coffee, water) from their own homes. Participants in the group condition will also be sent, by mail, a program t-shirt to foster a sense of distinctiveness.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Virtual Group Intervention

Personal exercise

Experimental group

Description:

Each of the older adult instructors described above will also contribute to delivering pre-recorded exercise classes (involving the same exercises, intensity, music, and so forth as those described above for the group condition). However, in this instance, instructors will deliver those classes to each participant by referring to themselves as each participant's personal trainer/coach, with language directed to the individual and not the group. That is, no sense of 'groupness' or 'shared social identities/connectivity' will be primed. Also, participants in this condition will not have the opportunity to interact with other older adults after classes have ended and will not receive the same program t-shirts designed to foster a sense of group distinctiveness.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Personal Exercise Intervention

Wait-list control

No Intervention group

Description:

Those randomized to the wait-list control condition will go about their daily lives for the duration of the 12-week trial. They will be asked to complete the same questionnaires (and will be remunerated in the same way as those in the other two conditions via $10 per questionnaire completion). At the end of the 12-week trial, participants in this condition will have access to the personal exercise programming.