Item Details

title

THE EFFECT OF EXERCISE ON EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING AND GAIT SPEED IN PATIENTS WITH MILD COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT

author

Wright, Halle

abstract

Background: It is estimated that approximately 16 million older Americans have mobility disability1. Although there are many factors that influence mobility disability, several studies utilizing diverse study designs have found interesting relationships among executive function (EF) and mobility in older adults. Aerobic exercise offers a potential modality to investigate the relationships between executive functioning and mobility. Objective: Examine the relationships among measures of EF and gait speed in older adults with diagnosed MCI. Methods: Seventy-one older adults with MCI (mean age 65 years, 66% female, and mean gait speed of 1.4±0.20 m/s) were included using data from the Piedmont Aging, Cognition, & Exercise Study 2 (PACE-2). Participants were randomized into an aerobic or stretching/balance intervention group for the 6-month study. Gait speed (m/s) was measured via the 400MW. EF Was assessed with the trail making test A (TMT-A), B, (TMT-B) and B-A (TMT B-A), and verbal fluency. Results: There were no statistically significant differences between intervention groups in gait speed at follow up (p = 0.989). A regression model that included race, sex, treatment condition, age, measures of EF significantly predicted gait speed changes (R2adj = 0.47; p <0.05). Furthermore, TMT-B was the only variable in the regression analysis that was statistically significant (Standardized B = -0.002; p = 0.002). Conclusion: Although the present study did not find improvements in gait speed resulting from exercise interventions in patients with diagnosed mild cognitive impairment, it did find a significant relationship between a component to EF (i.e., shifting) and improvements in gait. Future research is needed that seeks to integrate cognitively challenged activities with physical activity to maximize benefits to mobility.

subject

400 meter walk

aerobic exercise

cognition

executive function

mild cognitive impairment

mobility disability

contributor

Katula, Jeffrey A (committee chair)

Mihalko, Shannon (committee member)

Fanning, Jason (committee member)

date

2020-08-28T08:35:21Z (accessioned)

2021-08-27T08:30:12Z (available)

2020 (issued)

degree

Health and Exercise Science (discipline)

embargo

2021-08-27 (terms)

identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/10339/96939 (uri)

language

en (iso)

publisher

Wake Forest University

type

Thesis