Effects of a 6‐month multicomponent training on lower body function of older adults diagnosed with neurocognitive disorder: Data from Body & Brain Project

Background Dementia is a leading cause of disability and dependence. It is suggested that exercise has a positive impact on patient’s symptoms and/or disease progression. Nevertheless, to date studies aiming to assess Multicomponent Training (MT) effects on several dementia outcomes show inconsistent results. This quasi‐experimental controlled trial aims to examine the effectiveness of a 6‐month MT intervention on lower body function (e.g., lower body strength and walk speed) of older adults diagnosed with neurocognitive disorder. Method 40 subjects (N Female: 27) diagnosed with neurocognitive disorder (N Major NCD: 33) selected to participate in a MT Training (Body&Brain Project) were allocated into an exercise group (EG; N: 21; 74.90 ± 5.88 years; age range: 61‐83) or a control group (CG; N:19; 81.74 ± 6.07 years; age range: 70‐89). The EG was submitted to a 6‐month MT intervention (2 sessions per week, 50 minutes per session). Exercise sessions were divided in warm‐up, specific training (e.g., coordination and balance, lower and upper body strength, and aerobics) at light‐to‐moderate intensity, and cool down. The CG group had a monthly recreational session during the same period. 30‐seconds Chair Stand Test and 6‐meters Walk Speed Test, were applied at baseline and post‐intervention to attest respectively, lower body strength and walk speed, as important indicators of lower body function. Result Results from ANCOVA test (Table 1), controlled for age, gender and baseline scores, revealed a significant interaction for walk speed test (F (1,35) = 6.61, η2= 0.159, p=0.015) favorable to EG, but not for chair stand test (F (1,30) = 2.129, η2= 0.066, p=0.155). Conclusion The 6‐month MT intervention improved walk speed of older adults diagnosed with neurocognitive disorder, which might potentially impact individuals’ daily functionality and reduce the incidence of falls. Future research studies with larger samples are necessary to confirm MT training efficacy on lower body strength. Funding: Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology: CIAFEL (FCT/UIDB/00617/2020), “Body and Brain” Project (POCI‐01‐0145‐FEDER‐031808), and Ph.D. Grants (SFRH/BD/136635/2018) to FM and [2020.05911.BD] to DB; & IPDJ. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov ‐ NCT04095962.