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Automatic Reaction to Physical Activity and Sedentary Stimuli in Aging

NCT05704660 · Status: UNKNOWN · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 216

Last updated 2023-01-30

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Most individuals are aware of the benefits to health of regular physical activity and have good intentions to exercise. Yet, 1.4 billion people worldwide are inactive, which suggests that turning intention into action can be challenging. Recent findings show that the intention-action gap could be explained by negative automatic reactions (which is a component of dual-task theory) to stimuli associated with physical activity. This gap is particularly concerning in older adults, who are more likely to spontaneously associate physical activity with fear, pain, or discomfort. To promote physical activity, the current project proposes to train older adults to suppress their automatic attraction toward sedentary stimuli and to respond positively to physical-activity stimuli. This evidence-based and low-cost intervention aims to improve physical functioning and quality of life for these population. The results will inform public-health policies and improve clinical interventions that aim to counteract a global health problem: the pandemic of physical inactivity.

Conditions

  • Aging

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Adjusted Cognitive-biased modification task

The intervention of the proposed project is based on a go/no-go task in which older adults need to quickly decide whether or not they should react to the stimulus. A rectangle containing an image, or a word will be presented on a screen. In the intervention group, older adults will be instructed to restrain their actions when the rectangle is tilted to the right and to react by pressing a key on the keyboard when the rectangle is tilted to the left, irrespective of the content of the rectangle (because the training is meant to be implicit). In order to train inhibitory processes counteracting the automatic attraction to sedentary behavior, 90% of the rectangles tilted to the right (counterbalanced across participants) will contain a picture or a word related to sedentary behavior. To foster the automatic attraction toward physical activity, 90% of the rectangles tilted to the left will contain a picture or a word related to physical activity.

BEHAVIORAL

Cognitive-biased modification task

In the comparison group, instructions will be identical, but the percentage of physical activity and sedentary stimuli will be equal in each tilt condition (i.e., 50% sedentary stimuli and 50% physical activity stimuli in both right- and left-tilted rectangles)

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • University of Ottawa

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Matthieu P Boisgontier, PhD · University of Ottawa

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
OTHER
Masking
DOUBLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
60 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2023-09-30
Primary Completion
2024-09-30
Completion
2025-09-30

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT05704660 on ClinicalTrials.gov