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

NCT ID: NCT02455258

Last Updated: 2016-07-27

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 75 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2015-03-31
• Study Completion Date: 2016-04-30

Brief Summary

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.

Conditions

Aging

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: PREVENTION
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Dance/Movement Therapy (DMT)

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Dance/Movement Therapy (DMT)

Intervention Type: OTHER

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.

Aerobics Exercise (AE)

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Aerobics Exercise (AE)

Intervention Type: OTHER

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.

Waiting List

This group is placed on a waiting list and asked to refrain from making any changes to their current lifestyle.

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

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.

Intervention Type: 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.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

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

• Minimum Eligible Age: 60 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

Centre de Recherche de l'Institut Universitaire de Geriatrie de Montreal

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Louis Bherer

Researcher and Director of the Cognitive Health and Aging Research Lab (LESCA)

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

IUGM

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Countries

Canada

References

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.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 31987547 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

CRIUGM

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id