Comparison of High-Intensity Interval Training and Moderate-Intensity Continuous Training in Mild Cognitive Impairment

NCT07248709 | Recruiting DMC

• 1 other identifier: REC/0268 Sadia Khalid
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 68
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 2

Brief Summary

This study aims to determine the effects of High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and Moderate-Intensity Continuous Training (MICT) on cognitive and physical fitness in community-dwelling adults diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). A double-blinded randomized clinical trial will be conducted for ten months at Ruhama Welfare Foundation Society Lahore and Kainat Patient Care and Old Age Home, Lahore. The sample size is calculated through G-power and 68 participants will be recruited through the non-probability convenience sampling technique. Those who meet the inclusion criteria will be randomized into two groups through the online randomizer tool. Both experimental groups will undergo an 8-week intervention, consisting of three sessions per week with alternate-day training of 38 minutes. The HIIT group will perform exercise with each session consisting of four 4-minute intervals at 85-95% of their maximum heart rate, with 3-minute active recovery periods, while the MICT group will engage in continuous exercise for 28 minutes at 70-75% of their maximum heart rate. Assessment will be done at baseline, after the 4th week, 8th week, and follow-up at 12th week.

Conditions

Mild Cognitive Impairment

Keywords

High-Intensity Interval Training; Moderate-Intensity Continuous Training; Mild Cognitive Impairment; Executive Function; Physical Fitness; Cardiorespiratory Fitness

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)

  The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is a one-page, 30-point cognitive screening measurement scale that takes about 10 minutes to administer. There are 12 subtasks in the MoCA test that include memory, visuospatial orientation, executive functioning, phonemic fluency, and two-item abstract thinking task, attention, concentration, and working memory, language, orientation to time and place. A score of 26 is a cutoff score to differentiate between normal and abnormal. It has been extensively validated for its reliability and effectiveness in detecting cognitive deficits.

  Assessment at baseline, after the 4th week, 8th week, and follow-up at 12th week.

Secondary Outcomes (4)

• Cognitive Assessment Battery (CAB)

  Assessment at baseline, after the 4th week, 8th week, and follow-up at 12th week.

• Trail Making Test

  Assessment at baseline, after the 4th week, 8th week, and follow-up at 12th week.

• The Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB)

  Assessment at baseline, after the 4th week, 8th week, and follow-up at 12th week.

• 6-Minute Walk Test (6MWT)

  Assessment at baseline, after the 4th week, 8th week, and follow-up at 12th week.

Study Arms (2)

Group A

EXPERIMENTAL

The High-Intensity Interval Training Group (HIIT)

Other: High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

Group B

EXPERIMENTAL

Moderate-Intensity Continuous Training (MICT)

Other: Moderate-Intensity Continuous Training

Interventions

High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) OTHER

The HIIT group will engage in 28 min of alternating high-intensity and low-intensity exercise, where the high-intensity phase will be at 85-90% of maximum heart rate for 4 min, followed by a 3-min recovery period at 50-60% of maximum heart rate, repeated four times on a treadmill or stationary bicycle. (RPE \~16 on Borg scale) Total duration will be 38 minutes including warm up and cool down period.

Group A

Moderate-Intensity Continuous Training OTHER

The MICT group's training will consist of continuous aerobic exercise for 28 min at 60-70% of maximum heart rate on a treadmill or stationary bicycle. (RPE \~13 on Borg scale) Total duration will be 38 minutes including warm up and cool down period.

Group B

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 60 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• older adults who had been diagnosed with MCI according to Peterson's criteria \[Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score \<26 for those with 12 years or more of education and \<25 for those with less than 12 years of education; activity of daily living scale ≤23; no clinical diagnosis of dementia\]
• older adults who are physically normal (the six-item Katz Activities of Daily Living Scale should all be evaluated as "independent")

You may not qualify if:

• Participants who have medical problems or co-morbidities that interdict their participation in the study.
• Unable to walk without an assistive device
• Diagnosed with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease
• Having regular exercise habits (defined as exercise for ≥150 min per week).
• Participating in other ongoing intervention study

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Riphah International University: lead

Study Sites (2)

Khursheed Oldage Home and Nursing Care

Lahore, Punjab Province, 64350, Pakistan

RECRUITING

Ruhama Welfare Foundation Society

Lahore, Punjab Province, Pakistan

RECRUITING

Related Publications (5)

• Shao Z, Huang J, Feng H, Hu M. Optimizing the physical activity intervention for older adults with mild cognitive impairment: a factorial randomized trial. Front Sports Act Living. 2024 May 7;6:1383325. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2024.1383325. eCollection 2024.

  PMID: 38774280 BACKGROUND

• de Lima NS, De Sousa RAL, Amorim FT, Gripp F, Diniz E Magalhaes CO, Henrique Pinto S, Peixoto MFD, Monteiro-Junior RS, Bourbeau K, Cassilhas RC. Moderate-intensity continuous training and high-intensity interval training improve cognition, and BDNF levels of middle-aged overweight men. Metab Brain Dis. 2022 Feb;37(2):463-471. doi: 10.1007/s11011-021-00859-5. Epub 2021 Nov 11.

  PMID: 34762211 BACKGROUND

• Tsai CL, Pai MC, Ukropec J, Ukropcova B. The Role of Physical Fitness in the Neurocognitive Performance of Task Switching in Older Persons with Mild Cognitive Impairment. J Alzheimers Dis. 2016 Apr 23;53(1):143-59. doi: 10.3233/JAD-151093.

  PMID: 27128369 BACKGROUND

• Martin-Smith R, Cox A, Buchan DS, Baker JS, Grace F, Sculthorpe N. High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) Improves Cardiorespiratory Fitness (CRF) in Healthy, Overweight and Obese Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Controlled Studies. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Apr 24;17(8):2955. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17082955.

  PMID: 32344773 BACKGROUND

• Wu Q, Niu X, Zhang Y, Song J, Chi A. A Comparative Study of Inhibition Function between High-Intensity Interval Training and Moderate-Intensity Continuous Training in Healthy People: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Feb 6;20(4):2859. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20042859.

  PMID: 36833556 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Cognitive Dysfunction

Interventions

High-Intensity Interval Training

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Cognition Disorders; Neurocognitive Disorders; Mental Disorders

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Physical Conditioning, Human; Exercise; Motor Activity; Movement; Musculoskeletal Physiological Phenomena; Musculoskeletal and Neural Physiological Phenomena

Study Officials

• Aruba Saeed, PhD

  Riphah International University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Sadia Khalid, MSPT-NM

CONTACT

+923336482896; sadiakhalid27aug@gmail.com

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: DOUBLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 18, 2025
• First Posted: November 25, 2025
• Study Start: November 5, 2025
• Primary Completion: April 12, 2026
• Study Completion: April 30, 2026
• Last Updated: December 30, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-12

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

PA (2)