The effect of structured limbs exercise as a treatment to improve the psychomotor speed in older adults with mild cognitive impairment

Hao JIANG

Research output: ThesisDoctoral Theses

Abstract

Nowadays, maintaining the physical and mental health of older adults has become a critical topic worldwide. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia, and it is a type of chronic neurodegenerative disease that severely impairs a person’s cognitive function, thus hindering the patient’s self-care ability and causing psychological behavior disorder (Gubrium & Lynott, 1987). Mild cognitive impairment (MCI), also known as early dementia or isolated memory impairment is a transitional state between the normal ageing process of the brain and early dementia. Psychomotor speed (PS) and the physical and cognitive functions of older adults are inseparable. If older adults receive treatment during early-stage MCI, the occurrence of AD can be deferred to its fullest, ensuring the quality of life of older adults with advancing age. Therefore, we used PS elevation as the basis for designing the form, content, and intensity of the physical exercise, investigated the importance of limb exercise (aimed at PS elevation) on MCI, and explored the effect of limb exercise for improving the cognitive function of MCI patients. The demographic and clinical data of the research subjects show that the average age of the subjects was 65.22 ± 3.27 years and sex ratio was even. 22 MCI patients in the training intervention group additionally completed a 10-week structured limbs exercise training program. Finally, complete data were collected from 41 participants: 20 in the limb training group and 21 in the waiting-list control group. This study used SPSS Version 18 to organise and analyse the data. In summary, the limb exercise training intervention contributed to a more significant improvement in the MCI patients’ psychomotor exercise speed. Results indicated that the MCI patients achieved more significant improvements in their FTT, PPT and all dimensions of the MoCA scores. The power values of the alpha and beta EEG waves in all brain areas of MCI patients increased more significantly, implying that limb exercise training positively influenced the patients’ brain function with intervention after MCI patients. The demographic and clinical data of the research subjects show that the average age of the subjects was 65.22 ± 3.27 years and sex ratio was even. 22 MCI patients in the training intervention group additionally completed a 10-week structured limbs exercise training program. Finally, complete data were collected from 41 participants: 20 in the limb training group and 21 in the waiting-list control group. This study used SPSS Version 18 to organise and analyse the data. In summary, the limb exercise training intervention contributed to a more significant improvement in the MCI patients’ psychomotor exercise speed. Results indicated that the MCI patients achieved more significant improvements in their FTT, PPT and all dimensions of the MoCA scores. The power values of the alpha and beta EEG waves in all brain areas of MCI patients increased more significantly, implying that limb exercise training positively influenced the patients’ brain function with intervention after MCI patients. All rights reserved.
Original languageEnglish
QualificationDoctor of Education
Awarding Institution
  • The Hong Kong Institute of Education
Supervisors/Advisors
  • LO, Sing Kai 盧成皆, Supervisor
  • CHEN, Shihui, Supervisor
  • SI, Gangyan, Supervisor
Award date15 Mar 2016
Publication statusPublished - 2016

Keywords

  • Exercise for older people
  • Mild cognitive impairment
  • Theses and Dissertations
  • Thesis (Ed.D.)--The Hong Kong Institute of Education, 2016

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