Effects of Exercise Alone or Combined With Cognitive Training and Vitamin D Supplementation to Improve Cognition in Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment
What this study found
Multidomain intervention combining aerobic-resistance exercise with sequential computerized cognitive training significantly improved cognition (ADAS-Cog-13) at 6 months versus control and versus exercise alone (approximately 2.4–2.6 point reductions; effect size around 0.7). Vitamin D supplementation did not enhance cognition. Clinically meaningful improvements (≥3 points) occurred in about 44% (arm with full multidomain), 37% (multidomain without vitamin D), versus 15% in control. Improvements persisted for some arms at 12 months; adherence was high (≈87%). Conclusion: this multidomain…
- Study & population
- Design: multisite, randomized, double-masked, fractional factorial trial with 5 arms; participants: adults aged 60-85 with mild cognitive impairment; 175 randomized (mean age 73.1 years; 86 women [49%]); assessments at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months.
- Intervention
- Vitamin D: 10,000 IU oral capsules, three times weekly, for 20 weeks.
- Key limitation
- COVID-19-related early termination reduced power; most participants were vitamin D sufficient at baseline; sample predominantly White and highly educated, limiting generalizability; no adjustment for two primary endpoints.
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Open PDFOriginal abstract
Key Points Question Does a multidomain intervention of aerobic-resistance exercises with cognitive training and vitamin D improve cognition in older adults with mild cognitive impairment? Findings In this randomized clinical trial including 175 Canadian adults aged 65 to 84 years, a 20-week multidomain intervention of aerobic-resistance exercises with computerized cognitive training had a larger effect in improving cognition than exercise interventions alone, and these improvements were maintained at 12-month follow-up. Vitamin D addition did not enhance the effect. Meaning These findings suggest that pairing aerobic and resistance exercises with sequential computerized cognitive training may improve cognition in older adults with mild cognitive impairment.