Change In Physical Activity In Response To A 12 Month Randomized Exercise Intervention In Adults With Down Syndrome

PURPOSE: Adults with Down syndrome (DS) engage in significantly lower levels of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) compared to adults without DS. This study assessed the feasibility and potential effectiveness of a 12-month remotely delivered group exercise intervention at two different frequencies (1x/week and 3x/week) in increasing daily MVPA among adults with DS, compared to a usual care control group. METHODS: Adults with DS were randomized (2:2:1) into three groups: a low-frequency exercise group (1 session/week, RL), a high-frequency group (3 sessions/week, RH), and a health coach-only group (HCO), which did not participate in exercise sessions. All groups were provided with a physical activity tracker, resources to encourage exercise, and twice-monthly 20-minute individual support sessions delivered remotely. Each exercise session, delivered to groups of ~8 participants, consisted of approximately 30 mins. of MVPA. Feasibility outcomes included retention, session attendance, and safety. To measure effectiveness, change in daily MVPA (minutes/day) across 12 months was assessed using hip accelerometers, and effect sizes (cohen’s D) for between group changes were calculated. RESULTS: Adults with DS (n = 81, ~ 27 yrs. of age, 55% female) were randomized to the RH (n = 34), RL (n = 32) and HCO (n = 15) arms. Retention at 12 months was 100%. Attendance to the remote exercise sessions was 90% and 79% in the RH and RL arms respectively. There were no reported serious adverse events. MVPA was 16 ± 22 mins./day at baseline. Across 12 months, the RH arm demonstrated a 10 min/day increase in MVPA, while changes were minimal in the RL (+2 mins. /day) and HCO (+1 mins./day) arms. Medium effect sizes were observed for the change in MVPA between the RH and RL groups (Cohen’s d = 0.52) and between the RH and HCO groups (Cohen’s d = 0.53), indicating a moderate increase in activity for those participating in the higher frequency exercise sessions. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that delivering remote group exercise sessions three times a week is both feasible and potentially effective for increasing daily MVPA in adults with DS over 12 months. Future research should explore the long-term impacts of remote exercise interventions on the health and wellbeing of this population. Supported by: National Institute on Aging (AG063909)