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Behavioral Intervention for Lifestyle Physical Activity in Parkinson's Disease

Who can join

As published by the study on ClinicalTrials.gov. "Not stated" means the study hasn't said — ask the study team.

Age
50 Years and older
Sex
All sexes
Healthy volunteers
Not accepted
Compensation
Not stated

Other requirements are listed under Eligibility below. Only the study team can confirm whether you can join.

What to expect

No one can promise a trial will help you personally — that is what the research is trying to find out.

What participation involves

Not stated in the study description — ask the study team about visits and procedures.

Compensation
Not stated
  • Study-related exams and procedures are typically provided at no cost. This is how many trials work in general — confirm the details for this study with the study team.
  • Participants are monitored closely by the research team throughout the study.
  • Some participants may receive access to an investigational treatment, which is still being studied.
  • Your participation helps researchers learn whether this approach could help future patients.

About this study

In plain language

This study tests a 16-week home exercise program for people age 50 or older with Parkinson’s disease who are not active enough. Participants are assigned by chance to either aerobic and strength exercises or stretching and flexibility exercises, with remote support and Zoom coaching. The study will check for changes in physical activity, thinking skills, symptoms, and quality of life.

The investigators propose a Stage-I randomized controlled trial (RCT) of a remotely-delivered, 16-week social-cognitive theory-based behavioral intervention focusing on combined exercise (aerobic and resistance) training for yielding increases in device-measured physical activity and improvements in cognitive function, symptoms, and quality of life (QOL), and social-cognitive theory (SCT) outcomes among physically inactive persons with Parkinson's disease (PD). Participants (N=50) will be randomly assigned into exercise training (combined aerobic and resistance exercise) condition or active control (flexibility and stretching) condition. The 16-week intervention will be delivered and monitored remotely within a participant\'s home/community and supported by Zoom-based chats guided by SCT via a behavioral coach. Participants will receive training materials (e.g., prescriptive manual and exercise equipment), one-on-one coaching, action-planning via calendars, self-monitoring via logs, and SCT-based newsletters. The investigators hypothesize that the home-based exercise intervention will yield improvements in cognitive, symptomatic, and QOL outcomes.

Compensation is read from the study's own description and may be missing — always confirm with the study team.

Eligibility

Who can join

  • Have a confirmed diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease.
  • Have internet and email access.
  • Agree to thinking tests, surveys, wearing an activity tracker, and being assigned to a group by chance.
  • Not meet current physical activity guidelines, with a score below 14 on the Godin exercise survey.
  • Report being able to walk without help.
  • Be age 50 or older.
  • Use English as your main language.
  • Have no more than 1 “yes” answer on the PAR-Q exercise safety survey, or get a doctor’s approval if you have 2 or more.

Who can't join

  • Do not meet all the requirements listed above.
  • Have a medium or high risk of injury or death during hard exercise, based on the PAR-Q exercise safety survey.
  • Have severe thinking problems that could prevent following study steps, with a score below 18 on the TICS-M thinking test.
  • Score 26 or higher on the MoCA thinking test. This cutoff helps the study measure changes in thinking skills.

Simplified for readability. The official criteria below are what the study team uses.

Official eligibility criteria

Inclusion Criteria: * confirmed diagnosis of PD * Internet and email access * willingness to complete the cognitive assessments and questionnaires, wear the accelerometer, and undergo randomization * insufficient physical activity (i.e., not meeting current physical activity guidelines) based on a health contribution score of less than 14 units from the Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire * self-reported ability to ambulate without assistance * age of 50+ years * English as a primary language * asymptomatic (i.e., one or fewer affirmatives on the Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire \[PAR-Q\]) or physician approval for undertaking exercise training for those with 2 or more affirmatives on the PAR-Q Exclusion Criteria: * above inclusion criteria not met * moderate or high risk of contraindications for possible injury or death when undertaking strenuous or maximal exercise using the PAR-Q * severe cognitive impairment that might preclude compliance with the conditions based on a modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS-M) score of less than 18 * normal cognitive impairment based on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score of 26 or more for avoiding ceiling effects involving change in cognitive function

Study sites (1)

IL