DiADEM-Dance against Dementia-Effect of a Six-Month Dance Intervention on Physical Fitness in Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Randomized, Controlled Trial.

Background: Preserving health and physical fitness is critical to ensure independent living across the lifespan. Lower levels of physical fitness are associated with age-related cognitive decline and a higher prevalence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Thus, this study investigates the influence of a six-month dance intervention on selected measures of physical fitness in older adults with MCI. Methods: In this randomized controlled trial, 55 patients with MCI were randomized into a sportive dance training (IG; n = 26; age: 70.7 ± 5.6 years; 62% female) or an inactive control group (CG; n = 24; age: 69.1 ± 6.8 years; 46% female). The dance group received two 90 min dance training sessions per week over a duration of six-months, which focused on learning dance movement patterns. During the training sessions, heart rate was measured to control exercise intensity. Physical fitness was assessed using cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET), lower limb functional fitness via sit-to-stand test, handgrip strength, and heart rate variability (HRV). Results: We observed that the dance intervention preserved the cardiorespiratory fitness as measured by maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) during CPET, which decreased in the CG. Furthermore, participants in the IG demonstrated increases in leg and handgrip strength, although these were not statistically significant. HRV displayed a non-significant decrease following the intervention. Conclusions: The results of this randomized controlled trial suggest that sportive dance training can preserve elements of physical fitness (i.e., cardiorespiratory fitness) in older adults with MCI. Although improvements in the other parameters (i.e., leg and handgrip strength) were statistically non-significant, likely due to the small sample size, stabilizing muscular fitness and preventing age-related decline in older adults with MCI is important for maintaining functional independence. For future studies, we recommend a longer training duration paired with precise control of regular physical activity levels, an important confounding factor.

Agility performance in healthy older adults is associated with handgrip strength and force development: results from a 1-year randomized controlled trial.

PURPOSE: Handgrip strength is considered as important indicator for general fitness in older adults. However, it does not notably reflect adaptations from whole-body training but may reflect adaptions of multicomponent exercise training. These approaches seem to be more functional and related to relevant daily tasks. Effects of multicomponent agility training on handgrip strength are analysed. METHODS: Healthy older adults (N = 79, 69.3 ± 4.4 years, 64% female) were randomly assigned to an intervention (IG) or control group (CG). IG took part in a twice weekly 60 min multicomponent agility training for 12 months. Adherence rate of the participants was 75 ± 10 %. RESULTS: Neither maximum handgrip strength (Fmax) differed between groups (IG: 318 ± 97 N, CG: 302 ± 92 N) nor did it change after the intervention (IG: 315 ± 90 N, CG: 301 ± 97 N). Mixed ANOVA for Fmax (F(1,49) = 0.018, p = 0.893) revealed no significant group × time interaction with an effect size of [Formula: see text]. Similar results were observed for rate of force development (RFD) (F(1,49) = 0.038, p = 0.847) with an effect size [Formula: see text] . RFD did not differ between groups in pre (IG: 876 ± 585 N/s, CG: 712 ± 303 N/s) and post (IG: 890 ± 424 N/s, CG: 702 ± 368 N/s) measurements. Correlation for ACE and Fmax (r(64) = - 0.367, p = 0.005) and for RFD (r(64) = - 0.487, p < 0.001) was found to be negative. CONCLUSION: A 1-year multicomponent agility training does not affect handgrip strength in healthy older adults. However, handgrip strength (Fmax and RFD) is associated with agility, thus both handgrip strength indicators and agility might serve as local and functional vitality surrogates.

Good Scientific Practice and Ethics in Sports and Exercise Science: A Brief and Comprehensive Hands-on Appraisal for Sports Research.

Sports and exercise training research is constantly evolving to maintain, improve, or regain psychophysical, social, and emotional performance. Exercise training research requires a balance between the benefits and the potential risks. There is an inherent risk of scientific misconduct and adverse events in most sports; however, there is a need to minimize it. We aim to provide a comprehensive overview of the clinical and ethical challenges in sports and exercise research. We also enlist solutions to improve method design in clinical trials and provide checklists to minimize the chances of scientific misconduct. At the outset, historical milestones of exercise science literature are summarized. It is followed by details about the currently available regulations that help to reduce the risk of violating good scientific practices. We also outline the unique characteristics of sports-related research with a narrative of the major differences between sports and drug-based trials. An emphasis is then placed on the importance of well-designed studies to improve the interpretability of results and generalizability of the findings. This review finally suggests that sports researchers should comply with the available guidelines to improve the planning and conduct of future research thereby reducing the risk of harm to research participants. The authors suggest creating an oath to prevent malpractice, thereby improving the knowledge standards in sports research. This will also aid in deriving more meaningful implications for future research based on high-quality, ethically sound evidence.

Validity and Reliability of a Commercial Force Sensor for the Measurement of Upper Body Strength in Sport Climbing.

Recreational and professional climbing is gaining popularity. Thus, valid and reliable infield strength monitoring and testing devices are required. This study aims at assessing the validity as well as within- and between-day reliability of two climbing-specific hanging positions for assessing the maximum force with a new force measurement device. Therefore, 25 experienced male (n = 16) and female (n = 9) climbers (age: 25.5 ± 4.2 years, height: 176.0 ± 9.9 cm, weight: 69.7 ± 14.5 kg, body composition: 11.8 ± 5.7% body fat, climbing level: 17.5 ± 3.9 International Rock Climbing Research Association scale) were randomly tested with climbing-specific hang board strength tests (one-handed rung pulling and one-handed bent arm lock-off at 90°). The Tindeq, a load cell-based sensor for assessing different force-related variables, was employed together with a force plate (Kistler Quattro Jump) during both conditions. Data analysis revealed excellent validity for assessment with Tindeq: The intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) was 0.99 (both positions), while the standard error of the measurement (SEM), coefficient of variation (CV), and limits of agreement (LoA) showed low values. Within day reliability for the assessment with Tindeq was excellent: rung pulling showed an ICC of 0.90 and arm lock-off an ICC of 0.98; between-day reliability was excellent as well: rung pulling indicated an ICC of 0.95 and arm lock-off an ICC of 0.98. Other reliability indicators such as SEM, CV, and LoA were low. The Tindeq progressor can be applied for the cross-sectional and longitudinal climbing strength assessment as this device can detect training-induced changes reliably.

A Link between Handgrip Strength and Executive Functioning: A Cross-Sectional Study in Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment and Healthy Controls.

Older adults with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) who in addition to their memory deficits also suffer from frontal-executive dysfunctions have a higher risk of developing dementia later in their lives than older adults with aMCI without executive deficits and older adults with non-amnestic MCI (naMCI). Handgrip strength (HGS) is also correlated with the risk of cognitive decline in the elderly. Hence, the current study aimed to investigate the associations between HGS and executive functioning in individuals with aMCI, naMCI and healthy controls. Older, right-handed adults with amnestic MCI (aMCI), non-amnestic MCI (naMCI), and healthy controls (HC) conducted a handgrip strength measurement via a handheld dynamometer. Executive functions were assessed with the Trail Making Test (TMT A&B). Normalized handgrip strength (nHGS, normalized to Body Mass Index (BMI)) was calculated and its associations with executive functions (operationalized through z-scores of TMT B/A ratio) were investigated through partial correlation analyses (i.e., accounting for age, sex, and severity of depressive symptoms). A positive and low-to-moderate correlation between right nHGS (rp (22) = 0.364; p = 0.063) and left nHGS (rp (22) = 0.420; p = 0.037) and executive functioning in older adults with aMCI but not in naMCI or HC was observed. Our results suggest that higher levels of nHGS are linked to better executive functioning in aMCI but not naMCI and HC. This relationship is perhaps driven by alterations in the integrity of the hippocampal-prefrontal network occurring in older adults with aMCI. Further research is needed to provide empirical evidence for this assumption.

Relationship between Resting State Heart Rate Variability and Sleep Quality in Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment.

Sleep problems can be caused by psychological stress but are also related to cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. Improving lifestyle behaviors, such as good sleep hygiene, can help to counteract the negative effects of neurodegenerative diseases and to improve quality of life. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the relationship between subjectively reported measures of sleep quality (via Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)) and objective measures of cardiac autonomic control (via resting state heart rate variability (HRV)) among individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The PSQI and resting state HRV data of 42 MCI participants (69.0 ± 5.5; 56-80 years) were analyzed. Nineteen of the participants reported poor sleep quality (PSQI score > 5). Good sleepers showed higher resting heart rate than bad sleepers (p = 0.037; ES = 0.670). Correlation analysis showed a significant correlation between the parameter HF nu and sleep efficiency, contrasting the expected positive association between reduced HRV and poor sleep quality in healthy and individuals with specific diseases. Otherwise, there were no significances, indicating that measures of subjective sleep quality and resting HRV were not related in the present sample of MCI participants. Further research is needed to better understand the complex relationship between HRV and lifestyle factors (e.g., sleep) in MCI.