title: Effects of Exercise on Cognition: The Finnish Alzheimer Disease Exercise Trial: A Randomized, Controlled Trial.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine whether a regular, long-term exercise program performed by individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD) at home or as group-based exercise at an adult daycare center has beneficial effects on cognition; to examine secondary outcomes of a trial that has been published earlier.
  
  
  METHODS
  Randomized, controlled trial.
  
  
  METHODS
  Community.
  
  
  METHODS
  Community-dwelling dyads (N = 210) of individuals with AD and their spousal caregivers randomized into three groups.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two types of intervention comprising customized home-based exercise (HE) and group-based exercise (GE), each twice a week for 1 year, were compared with a control group (CG) receiving usual community care.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cognitive function was measured using the Clock Drawing Test (CDT), Verbal Fluency (VF), Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR), and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) at baseline and 3, 6, and 12 months of follow-up.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Executive function, measured using CDT, improved in the HE group, and changes in the score were significantly better than those of the CG at 12 months (adjusted for age, sex, and CDR, P = .03). All groups deteriorated in VF and MMSE score during the intervention, and no significant differences between the groups were detected at 12-month follow-up when analyses were adjusted for age, sex, and CDR.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Regular, long-term, customized HE improved the executive function of community-dwelling older people with memory disorders, but the effects were mild and were not observed in other domains of cognition.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Practice, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.|Unit of General Practice, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.|Hospital, Rehabilitation, and Care Services, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Hannareeta
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0625-3354
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Öhman
authors.affiliation: Home Care, Espoo, Finland.
authors.forename: Niina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Savikko
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.|Clinics of Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.|Unit of General Practice, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland.
authors.forename: Timo E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Strandberg
authors.affiliation: Department of General Practice, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.|Unit of General Practice, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Hannu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kautiainen
authors.affiliation: Department of General Practice, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.|Unit of General Practice, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Minna M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Raivio
authors.affiliation: Department of General Practice, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.|Unit of General Practice, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.|Hospital, Rehabilitation, and Care Services, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Marja-Liisa
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Laakkonen
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.|Clinics of Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Reijo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tilvis
authors.affiliation: Department of General Practice, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.|Unit of General Practice, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Kaisu H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Pitkälä
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D017028:Caregivers; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003631:Day Care, Medical; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Alzheimer's disease; cognition; physical exercise; randomized controlled trial