Exercise in Children Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

December 22, 2025 updated by: Arzu Demircioğlu, Hacettepe University

The Effects of Combined Exercise Program in Children Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a heterogeneous neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by carelessness, hyperactivity and impulsivity, in which genetic, social and physical factors play an important role. Few studies have revealed the physical activity levels and importance of children with ADHD, but there is no consensus on the components of the physical activity program such as intensity, frequency, and severity. The aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of combined exercise training on motor proficiency, physical fitness and cognitive status in children with ADHD.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

The aim of present study is to investigate the effect of combined exercise training on motor proficiency, physical fitness and cognitive status in children with ADHD. Children will be randomly divided into 3 groups, for 8 weeks the first group will undergo a combined exercise training under the supervision of a physiotherapist, while the second group will receive a home exercise program. children included in the third group will form the control group.

The following assessments will be applied at the beginning and end of treatment.

  1. Revised Conners Parent Rating Scale Short Turkish Form
  2. Powers and Challenges Survey
  3. Edinburgh Hand Preference Survey
  4. Two-minute walking test
  5. Ten meter walking test
  6. Munich Fitness Test
  7. Bruininks-Oseretsky Motor Proficiency Test-2
  8. Muscle strength evaluation
  9. Dynamic Occupational Therapy Cognitive Assessment
  10. Open-ended questions

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
30

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

7 years to 12 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Having been diagnosed with ADHD according to DSM-V (The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-V) diagnostic criteria,
  • Being between the ages of 7-12,
  • Right hand being dominant according to Edinburgh Hand Preference Questionnaire,
  • After the purpose of the study and the procedures to be explained, both the child and his family agree to participate in the study,
  • An appropriate drug treatment program has been organized by the psychiatrist,
  • The absence of a contraindicated condition to exercise in physical and medical examination.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • A major psychiatric and / or neurodevelopmental problem accompanying,
  • A history of head injury or chronic neurological disease,
  • Having additional medical diseases that require medication,
  • Any changes made in the psychiatric drug treatment by the attending physician for the last 1 month,
  • Have participated in a regular exercise program or sporting activity for the past 6 months.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Supervised exercise group
The treatment program was determined as 3 sessions per week for 8 weeks and 60 minutes per session. The treatment program consists of 5 min warm-up exercises, 20 min aerobic exercise, 20 min balance-coordination exercises, 10 min strengthening exercises and 5 min cooling exercises.
Other: Combined exercise
Combined exercise program consists of 5 min warm-up exercises, 20 min aerobic exercise, 20 min balance-coordination exercises, 10 min strengthening exercises and 5 min cooling exercises.
Active Comparator: Home exercise group
The exercise program, which is prepared for the individual, will be applied to the home exercise group with 60 minutes of 3 times a week.
Other: Combined exercise
Combined exercise program consists of 5 min warm-up exercises, 20 min aerobic exercise, 20 min balance-coordination exercises, 10 min strengthening exercises and 5 min cooling exercises.
No Intervention: Control group
Children will not be included in any treatment program. The assessments will be done again 8 weeks later.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Motor Proficiency
Time Frame: 45 minutes
Motor proficiency will be evaluated The Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency Second Edition (BOT™-2). t contains subtests and challenging game-like tasks and is very easy to administer. the score of this test ranges from 0 to 322. Higher score indicates better motor proficiency
45 minutes
Cognitive assessment
Time Frame: 90 minutes
Dynamic Occupational Therapy Cognitive Assessment (DOTCA-Ch) battery for children allows to evaluate cognitive skills in 5 main topics: orientation, spatial perception, praxis, visual-motor organization and thinking processes.
90 minutes
Physical Fitness
Time Frame: 15 minutes
Munich Fitness Test
15 minutes

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Behavior Disorders
Time Frame: 5 minutes
Conners Parent Rating Scale consists of 27 items in total. In this scale, questions are answered on a 4-point Likert scale. "Never", "rarely", "often" and "always" options are; It is scored as "0", "1", "2" and "3". High scores from the scale show the intensity of symptoms specific to destructive disorders
5 minutes
Behaviour characteristics
Time Frame: 5 minutes
Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire - (SDQ) "contains 25 questions, some of which question positive and some negative behavior characteristics. Each sub-title can be evaluated within itself and a separate score can be obtained for each, as well as the sum of the first four titles and the" Total Strength Score ".
5 minutes
Hand dominance
Time Frame: 5 minutes
Edinburgh Hand Preference Questionnaire was developed to determine the hand preferences of the persons.The sum of the right and left hand scores gives "Cumulative Total (TC)" and subtracting the left hand score from the right hand score gives "Difference score (F)". The result score is obtained by dividing the difference score by the cumulative total score and multiplying it by the face. Result score; It can be interpreted that if the person is less than 40, the person is left dominant, and between -40 and 40, each bilateral dominant, and if greater than 40, the person is right dominant.
5 minutes
gait endurance
Time Frame: 4 minutes
2-minute walking test will be used to determine walking endurance. In this test, a distance of 50 feet (15.2 meters) in length is determined first. The evaluator marks each 10 foot long distance with markers, leaving a cone at the beginning and end of the total distance.
4 minutes
muscle strength
Time Frame: 10 minutes
Isometric muscle strength will be evaluated by hand dynamometer. Care is taken to repeat 3 times at short intervals during measurements. The highest value will be used for analysis. 4 muscle groups, including shoulder abductors, grip strength, hip flexors and ankle dorsi flexors, will be evaluated bilaterally.
10 minutes
10 meter walking test
Time Frame: 2 minutes
Walking speed
2 minutes
Open ended questions
Time Frame: 15 minutes
these questions for social cooperation and behaviour
15 minutes

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Hacettepe University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
October 10, 2019

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
August 10, 2022

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
November 10, 2022

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
February 19, 2020

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
February 19, 2020

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
February 21, 2020

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
December 29, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
December 22, 2025

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
December 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • KA-19032

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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