The Effectiveness of Regular Exercise on Improving Sleep in Older Adults (RTC)

April 25, 2016 updated by: Abby C King, Stanford University

Promoting Exercise, Sleep and Well-Being in Older Adults

This study will evaluate the effect of regular aerobic exercise on improving sleep in older adults with moderate difficulty sleeping.

Study Overview

Detailed Description

Sleep deprivation is a common problem among older adults. It is often at the root of increased mortality and some psychiatric disorders. Regular participation in a medium-intensity exercise regimen may help people sleep better. This study will assess the effectiveness of a regular exercise program on improving sleep in older adults with moderate difficulty sleeping.

Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two conditions. One group will partake in a moderate-intensity physical activity training regimen. The other group will act as a non-exercise attention-control comparison group. Each group will undergo its assigned treatment for 12 months. Sleep quantity and quality will be measured objectively using in-home polysomnography. Subjective sleep quality and health-related quality of life measures will be evaluated with questionnaires. All measurements will be performed at the beginning of the study, Month 6, and Month 12.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

66

Phase

  • Phase 2
  • Phase 3

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

    • California
      • Stanford, California, United States, 94305-5705
        • Stanford Prevention Research Center

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

Ages Eligible for Study

55 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Moderate difficulty sleeping unrelated to a physical illness or psychopathology (determined by the Sleep Questionnaire and Assessment of Wakefulness)
  • Currently not physically active on a regular basis
  • Body mass index less than 38

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Currently physically active on a regular basis
  • Diagnosed with a clinically significant sleep disorder
  • Mild or no sleep complaints (determined by the Sleep Questionnaire and Assessment of Wakefulness)
  • Unstable on medications
  • Current smoker
  • Consumes more than three alcoholic beverages per day
  • Medical condition that may limit participation in moderate-intensity exercise
  • Diagnosed with clinical psychopathology

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
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Exercise training
Group based exercise training. Two weekly classes including aerobic endurance physical activity and strength and flexibility training, and up to three home-based sessions of similar composition of aerobic endurance, strength and flexibility training.
Moderate-Intensity Aerobic Physical Activity. 4+ days per week, 60+ minutes per day, moderate or greater intensity physical activity
Other Names:
  • Comprehensive fitness class
Placebo Comparator: 2
Attention-control of exposure to study staff. Weekly general health education classes conducted in group sessions.
2 classes a week, 90+minutes per class, general health education, excluding information on physical activity
Other Names:
  • Healthy Aging Workshops

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
% Time in Stage 2 Sleep at 12 Months, Adjusted for Baseline
Time Frame: baseline, 12 months
Percent of total sleep time spent in Stage 2 sleep at 12 months after adjusting for baseline level of Stage 2 sleep (i.e., baseline value included as a covariate in regression models conducted).
baseline, 12 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Sleep Disturbances
Time Frame: 12 months

Self-reported sleep disturbance subscale on Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index Subscale consists of 9 items scored on a range of 0 to 3, 0 indicating no disturbance and 3 indicating frequent disturbance.

All 9 items are summed, and the summary scores is captured by 1 of 4 categories ranging from 0 to 3, with 0 indicating less frequent disturbances and 3 indicating greater frequency of disturbances.

12 months
Peak Exercise Oxygen Consumption
Time Frame: 12 months
Peak oxygen consumption measured during symptom limited treadmill exercise stress test
12 months

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Abby C King, PhD, Stanford University

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.

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

August 1, 1999

Primary Completion (Actual)

September 1, 2003

Study Completion (Actual)

September 1, 2003

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 6, 2005

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 6, 2005

First Posted (Estimate)

September 8, 2005

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

May 24, 2016

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 25, 2016

Last Verified

April 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

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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