CLINICAL TRIAL article
Front. Aging Neurosci.
Sec. Neurocognitive Aging and Behavior
Volume 17 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2025.1639245
This article is part of the Research TopicStrategies for Combatting Age-Related Decline through Targeted Exercise ProgramsView all 11 articles
Effects of Exercise-Cognitive Dual-Task Training on Cognitive Frailty in Older Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Provisionally accepted
Xiaoxing Lai1*
Hongwei Zhu1Yonghua Cai1
Baoyu Chen2Yang Li1Hongdi Du1Liping Zhang1Wenwen Wang1Shuxian Li1Xiaopeng Huo1*- 1Peking Union Medical College Hospital (CAMS), Beijing, China
- 2Peking University Sixth Hospital, Beijing, China
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Objective: This study aims to investigate the effects of exercise-cognitive dual-task training on frailty status, cognitive function, physical performance, and dual-task cognitive load in older adults with Cognitive frailty (CF) over a 16-week intervention period . Methods: This randomized controlled trial enrolled older adults with CF at community health service center in Chaoyang District, Beijing, between February and March 2024. Participants were randomly assigned to either the dual-task training group or the health education group in a 1:1 ratio. The dual-task training group received an exercise-cognitive dual-task training program, while the health education group received information on CF, including its symptoms, risk factors, and non-pharmacological prevention and treatment strategies.The primary outcomes were frailty status, while the secondary outcomes included cognitive function, balance and gait function, walking ability, and dual-task cognitive load.Results: A total of 72 participants (35 males) were enrolled, including 36 individuals (mean age: 74.81 ± 8.23 years, 17 males, mean BMI: 21.38 ± 2.83 kg/m 2 ) in the dual-task training group, and 36 individuals (mean age: 76.50±7.75 years, 18 males, mean BMI: 22.18 ± 2.12 kg/m 2 ) in the health education group. Participants (n=72) were 75.66 ± 7.9 years old; 48.6 % (35/72) were male and 51.4 % (37/72) were female. Following the intervention, the dual-task training group exhibited significant improvements compared to the health education group in the Tilburg Frailty Index elderly individuals 删除[小星]: CF 删除[小星]: elderly individuals 删除[小星]: 字体: (默认)Times New Roman, 小四 设置格式[小星]:(5.14 ±0.99 vs. 7.36± 1.07, P < 0.001) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment scores (27.25±2.41 vs. 23.47±1.87, P < 0.001) . Additionally, the dual-task training group demonstrated superior outcomes in the Performance-Oriented Mobility Assessment (POMA) scores (24.64 ± 5.50 vs. 17.39 ± 4.38, P < 0.001), Time Up and Go Test (TUGT) indicators (10.66 ± 1.76 vs. 12.01 ± 2.21, P <0.05), and cognitive load measures (all P < 0.05) .Exercise-cognitive dual-task training may effectively improve frailty status, cognitive function, physical performance, and dual-task cognitive load in older adults with CF, suggesting its potential for broader application in this population.Trial Registration:http://www.chictr.org.cn/: ChiCTR2400080105.
Keywords: cognitive frailty, older adults, Dual-task training, Exercise, Cognition
Received: 01 Jun 2025; Accepted: 25 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Lai, Zhu, Cai, Chen, Li, Du, Zhang, Wang, Li and Huo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Xiaoxing Lai, Peking Union Medical College Hospital (CAMS), Beijing, China
Xiaopeng Huo, Peking Union Medical College Hospital (CAMS), Beijing, China
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