Dancing for Better Aging: Evaluating the Impact of a Dance/Movement Therapy (D/MT) Program for Older Adults

Dancing for Better Aging: Evaluating the Impact of a Dance/Movement Therapy Program for Older Adults Through an Empirical Research Approach

The aim of this study is to empirically evaluate the impact of a Dance/Movement Therapy program adapted to older adults. Participants over 60 years old are enrolled in one of three groups: Dance/Movement Therapy, Aerobic Exercise or Waiting List (control group) for 12 weeks. The training groups occur 3 times a week for 1 hour each session. Physical condition, cognitive function, general health and lifestyle, and stress hormones are assessed at baseline, after 12 weeks and after 28 weeks.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Aging
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Dance/Movement Therapy (DMT); Other: Aerobics Exercise (AE)

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 75
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Quebec
    • Montreal, Quebec, Canada
      • IUGM

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

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

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• aged 60 years and older
• sedentary or moderately sedentary (less than 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise per week)
• have not participated in another similar study in the last year
• have not been exposed to a dance or dance/movement therapy program in the past year
• are not in a wheelchair
• have not had surgery in the past year
• have not smoked in the past 5 years
• do not consume more than 2 glasses a day of alcohol
• are not in treatment for major depression

Exclusion Criteria:

• progressive neurological disorder
• unstable medical conditions (unstable cardio illness in the past 6 months, cardiac or thyroid troubles or pituitary gland illness)
• contraindication for moderate physical activity (major orthopaedic limitations)
• suspicion of cognitive problems (score of 24 or less on the Mini-Mental State Examination)
• large uncorrected perceptual limits
• treatment of hormone therapy
• uncontrolled hearing loss

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Dance/Movement Therapy (DMT)	Other: Dance/Movement Therapy (DMT); Each DMT session follows a similar structure of Opening, Warm up, Development, Cool Down and Closure. Various themes dedicated to an aging population are addressed by the supervising dance/movement therapist through movement activities and using support material (i.e., props, music). This group is provided in a group setting of maximum 10 participants at a time and occurs 3 times per week for 1 hour each session over the course of 12 weeks.
Active Comparator: Aerobics Exercise (AE)	Other: Aerobics Exercise (AE); The aerobics exercise program is composed of warm up exercises followed by cardiovascular training on a recumbent bicycle. The intensity is set and progressively increased using each participants' individualized maximal aerobic power obtained in the baseline VO2 evaluation. This program respects the recommendations made by the American College of Sports Medicine and their adaptations for aging populations. Each session is supervised by a kinesiologist with 2 participants at a time. The training occurs 3 times per week for 1 hour each session over the course of 12 weeks.
No Intervention: Waiting List; This group is placed on a waiting list and asked to refrain from making any changes to their current lifestyle.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Z-score change on Cognitive Functioning	Assessment of executive functions, processing speed and memory	0, 12 and 28 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Z-score change on Psychological Condition	SF-12	0, 12 and 28 weeks
Z-score change on Psychological Condition	Lubbens Social Network Scale	0, 12 and 28 weeks
Z-score change on Psychological Condition	Mental Health Continuum	0, 12 and 28 weeks
Z-score change on Psychological Condition	Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile	0, 12 and 28 weeks
Z-score change on Psychological Condition	State-Trait Anxiety Inventory	0, 12 and 28 weeks
Z-score change on Psychological Condition	Depression Scale	0, 12 and 28 weeks
Z-score change on Dietary Screener Questionnaire		0,12 and 28 weeks
Z-score change on Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)		0,12 and 28 weeks
Z-score change on Brief Pain Inventory		0, 12 and 28 weeks
Z-score change on International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Urinary Incontinence ( ICIQ-UI)	Urinary Incontinence	0, 12 and 28 weeks
Z-score change on Physical Functioning	Timed up and go	0,12 and 28 weeks
Z-score change on Physical Functioning	10m walk	0,12 and 28 weeks
Z-score change on Physical Functioning	Grip strength	0,12 and 28 weeks
Z-score change on Physical Condition	VO2 peak	0, 12 and 28 weeks
Z-score change on Physical Condition	Bone density scanning (DEXA)	0, 12 and 28 weeks
Z-score change on Physical Condition	BMI	0, 12 and 28 weeks
Z-score change on Physical Condition	Rockport walking aerobic fitness test	0, 12 and 28 weeks
Z-score change on Physical Condition	Anthropometric measures composite	0,12 and 28 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Centre de Recherche de l'Institut Universitaire de Geriatrie de Montreal

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Esmail A, Vrinceanu T, Lussier M, Predovan D, Berryman N, Houle J, Karelis A, Grenier S, Minh Vu TT, Villalpando JM, Bherer L. Effects of Dance/Movement Training vs. Aerobic Exercise Training on cognition, physical fitness and quality of life in older adults: A randomized controlled trial. J Bodyw Mov Ther. 2020 Jan;24(1):212-220. doi: 10.1016/j.jbmt.2019.05.004. Epub 2019 May 7.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: March 1, 2015
• Primary Completion (Actual): April 1, 2016
• Study Completion (Actual): April 1, 2016

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 31, 2015
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 26, 2015
• First Posted (Estimate): May 27, 2015

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): July 27, 2016
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 26, 2016
• Last Verified: July 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Inactivity
• Other Study ID Numbers: CRIUGM