Exercise: A Novel Treatment for Combat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Summary

The primary objective of this pilot intervention study is to examine the efficacy of exercise for reducing the symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other psychiatric and somatic symptoms. The sample will be composed of veterans aged 18-65 with combat-related PTSD (N = 40). Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two groups. Participants in the exercise training group (n = 20) will receive three 60-75 minute sessions per week of combination aerobic and resistance training for eight weeks. In the control stretching group, participants (n = 20) will receive training in whole-body flexibility three times per week for eight weeks. Secondary objectives include 1) determining feasibility of the intervention (as measured by the percentage of prescribed days of exercise completed by each participant, and percentage of time exercising completed at the prescribed intensity and duration); 2) determining the influence of exercise training on aerobic fitness and strength in the sample; and 3) determining whether psychiatric/somatic symptom improvements are associated with improvements in fitness and strength. Finally, exploratory objectives will include examining whether exercise training can improve early signs of heart disease, and whether certain biomarkers (using MRI and fMRI data and inflammatory markers) are associated with treatment response.

Conditions

• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

exercise training

Participants will engage in 3 aerobic and resistance exercise sessions (\~60-75 min total per session) weekly for 8 consecutive weeks. Aerobic exercise will be performed for 30 minutes on a treadmill 3 times weekly. Before beginning, 10 min of stretches will be performed. Each exercise bout will begin and end with a 5-min warm-up and 5-min cool-down on the treadmill, not included in the prescribed exercise duration. Eight resistance exercises will be performed immediately following the aerobic exercise: lat pulldown, triceps pushdown, seated chest press, upright row, bicep curls, leg press, shoulder press, and abdominal crunches. Participants will perform two sets of 10 repetitions of each. A rest interval of 60 seconds will be taken between exercises. Research staff will initially assist the participants in choosing the proper resistance to use, and weight will be increased once 15 repetitions can be performed while maintaining proper form.

BEHAVIORAL

Stretching training

Participants will engage in stretching sessions that will focus on whole-body flexibility. Participants will perform 3 sessions per week (\~60 min) of 3 sets of 14 stretches focused on the muscle groups targeted by the exercise training (i.e., deltoids, pectorals, lats, forearms and biceps, triceps, quadriceps, hamstrings, and groins). Each stretch will be performed for 20 seconds and a rest interval of 60 seconds will be taken between each set.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command

  collaborator FED

• INTRuST, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - Traumatic Brain Injury Clinical Consortium

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Shawn D. Youngstedt, Ph.D. · University of South Carolina

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

65 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2011-10-31

Primary Completion

2013-01-31

Completion

2013-01-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations