Classroom Exercise Frequency and Mental Health in Medical Students

August 5, 2026 updated by: Dynamical Business and Science Society - DBSS International SAS

Promoción de la Actividad física y la Salud Mental en Estudiantes de Medicina

This 16-week, three-group, nonrandomized interventional study evaluated whether the weekly frequency of a brief classroom-based physical exercise program was associated with changes in mental health and physical activity among 105 undergraduate medical students at Universidad Tecnologica de Pereira, Colombia. EG2 (n=35) received two exercise sessions per week, EG1 (n=37) received one session per week, and CG (n=33) received no exercise intervention. Anxiety, depression, stress, and physical activity were assessed at baseline and after 16 weeks.

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 three groups were specified prospectively in the ethics-approved protocol. Participation was voluntary, and all participants completed written informed consent. Academic groups were formed independently of the investigators by the university Registration and Academic Control Unit through its routine enrollment process. Both intervention groups received the same approximately 10-minute classroom exercise program and differed only in weekly frequency. Each session comprised a 3-minute warm-up, a 5-minute interval circuit involving large muscle groups, and a 2-minute cool-down with stretching and breathing. Exercises varied across sessions and intensity increased progressively. The target intensity was 5 to 7 on the modified 0-to-10 Borg scale together with a moderate Talk Test response. Attendance was called before each session by the assigned instructor, and withdrawal during a session was recorded. Adherence was defined as attendance at 80% or more of delivered sessions. No adverse events were recorded.

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.
105

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

  • Colombia
    • Risaralda Department
      • Pereira, Risaralda Department, Colombia, 660003
        • Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad Tecnologica de Pereira

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

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Enrollment in the corresponding academic group (EG2, EG1, or CG) at Universidad Tecnologica de Pereira.
  • Voluntary agreement to participate and completion of written informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

- Medical conditions that precluded participation in physical exercise.

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: Prevention
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

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: EG2 - Classroom Exercise Twice Weekly
Thirty-five participants received two approximately 10-minute classroom exercise sessions per week for 16 weeks, corresponding to 32 delivered sessions.
Behavioral: Brief Classroom-Based Physical Exercise Program
Approximately 10-minute sessions comprising a 3-minute warm-up, a 5-minute interval circuit involving large muscle groups, and a 2-minute cool-down. Exercises varied and intensity increased progressively, targeting 5 to 7 on the modified 0-to-10 Borg scale and a moderate Talk Test response. The program required no exercise equipment.
Experimental: EG1 - Classroom Exercise Once Weekly
Thirty-seven participants received one approximately 10-minute classroom exercise session per week for 16 weeks, corresponding to 16 delivered sessions.
Behavioral: Brief Classroom-Based Physical Exercise Program
Approximately 10-minute sessions comprising a 3-minute warm-up, a 5-minute interval circuit involving large muscle groups, and a 2-minute cool-down. Exercises varied and intensity increased progressively, targeting 5 to 7 on the modified 0-to-10 Borg scale and a moderate Talk Test response. The program required no exercise equipment.
No Intervention: CG - Usual Classroom Activities
Thirty-three participants continued usual classroom activities and received no study exercise sessions during the 16-week period.

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
Change in anxiety symptom score assessed with the DASS-21 anxiety subscale
Time Frame: Baseline and post-intervention at week 16
Seven items are summed without doubling to obtain a raw score from 0 to 21. Higher scores indicate greater anxiety symptom severity.
Baseline and post-intervention at week 16

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
Change in depression symptom score assessed with the DASS-21 depression subscale
Time Frame: Baseline and post-intervention at week 16
Seven items are summed without doubling to obtain a raw score from 0 to 21. Higher scores indicate greater depression symptom severity.
Baseline and post-intervention at week 16
Change in psychological stress score assessed with the DASS-21 stress subscale
Time Frame: Baseline and post-intervention at week 16
Seven items are summed without doubling to obtain a raw score from 0 to 21. Higher scores indicate greater stress symptom severity.
Baseline and post-intervention at week 16
Change in total physical activity assessed with the short-form International Physical Activity Questionnaire
Time Frame: Baseline and post-intervention at week 16
Total physical activity is expressed as MET-minutes/week by summing walking, moderate-intensity, and vigorous-intensity activity. Higher values indicate a greater physical activity volume.
Baseline and post-intervention at week 16

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.
Dynamical Business and Science Society - DBSS International SAS

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Jhonatan Gonzalez-Santamaria, PhD, Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

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.
August 3, 2025

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.
November 28, 2025

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 28, 2025

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).
August 5, 2026

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.
August 5, 2026

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.
August 11, 2026

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.
August 11, 2026

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.
August 5, 2026

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.
August 1, 2026

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.
  • UTP-151-101224
  • 28871 (Other Grant/Funding Number: Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira)
  • 151-101224 (Other Identifier: Research Ethics Committee approval)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

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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