HIT in the Healthy Elderly Population (HIT)

Determining the Effectiveness of a High Intensity Interval Training Exercise Programme in the Healthy, Elderly Population

It is widely known that exercise improves general fitness and that fitter patients recover more easily from illness and surgery. Conversely, unfit patients have a significantly higher morbidity and mortality after surgery and a longer inpatient stay. This will become increasingly important in an aging population as baseline fitness generally declines with age.

One method of improving cardiovascular fitness is by using low intensity endurance training programmes, a disadvantage of these it that they can take several months to show improvement. High intensity interval training (HIT) programmes that use short episodes of high intensity exercise have also been shown to improve fitness. These HIT programmes have also shown improvement in functional capacity and quality of life in patients with chronic disease. An advantage of HIT is that improvements in fitness may occur in a shorter time than traditional endurance training. It is also known that HIT can give superior gains over endurance training.

The primary aim of this study is to determine whether an improvement in aerobic fitness, as judged by a 2ml/kg/min increase in VO2peak, can be achieved within 31 days via a HIT programme, in a group of healthy elderly volunteers.

As a secondary aim we will assess whether this programme would be acceptable to the group studied, through determination of subject compliance and adherence to the training programme.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Elderly; Prehabilitation; Interval Training; Pre Operative Exercise
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: HIT

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 24
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United Kingdom
  • Derbyshire
    • Derby, Derbyshire, United Kingdom, DE22 3DT
      • University of Nottingham

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 60 years to 75 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Good health
• Male and female
• 60 -75 years old

Exclusion Criteria:

• Uncontrolled hypertension (BP > 140/100)
• Angina
• Heart failure (NYHA class III/IV)
• Cardiac arrthymias
• Right to left cardiac shunt
• Recent cardiac event
• Previous stroke/TIA
• Aneurysm (large vessel or intracranial)
• Severe respiratory disease including pulmonary hypertension
• COPD/asthma with an FEV1 less than 1.5 l
• Inclusion into any other research study in the last three months which involved: taking a drug; being paid a disturbance allowance; having an invasive procedure or exposure to ionising radiation

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: HIT; High intensity interval training sessions on an cycle ergometer	Behavioral: HIT; 12 sessions of HIT exercise in 31 days on a stationary cycle ergometer

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
VO2 peak	31 days

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Nottingham

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: February 1, 2014
• Primary Completion (Actual): July 1, 2014
• Study Completion (Actual): August 1, 2014

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 16, 2014
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 17, 2014
• First Posted (Estimate): June 18, 2014

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): October 1, 2015
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 30, 2015
• Last Verified: September 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: HIT