Health Benefits of Dance Exercise

NCT07615829 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: UTH_2251_Long term
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 40
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

In Greece, people of different age groups, including young children to older adults, participate in dance exercise training. Although it is well-known that regular participation in dancing is associated with benefits such as entertainment, socialization and increased physical activity, the long-term effects of dancing on metabolic and mental health as well as physical performance remain largely unknown. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the effects of a 6-month dancing exercise intervention on metabolic and mental health and physical performance in premenopausal and postmenopausal women.

Conditions

Metabolic Health; Mental Health; Physical Performance

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (24)

• Change in glucose concentration

  Fasting glucose concentration will be determined in blood

  At baseline and 6 months

• Change in insulin concentration

  Fasting insulin concentration will be determined in blood

  At baseline and 6 months

• Change in total cholesterol concentration

  Total cholesterol concentration will be determined in blood

  At baseline and 6 months

• Change in HDL cholesterol concentration

  HDL cholesterol concentration will be determined in blood

  At baseline and 6 months

• Change in LDL cholesterol concentration

  LDL cholesterol concentration will be determined in blood

  At baseline and 6 months

• Change in triglycerides concentration

  Triglycerides concentration will be determined in blood

  At baseline and 6 months

• Change in serum glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT/AST) concentration

  SGOT concentration will be determined in blood

  At baseline and 6 months

• Change in alanine aminotransferase (SGPT/ALT) concentration

  SGPT concentration will be determined in blood

  At baseline and 6 months

• Change in gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (γ-GT) concentration

  γ-GT concentration will be determined in blood

  At baseline and 6 months

• Change in body weight

  At baseline and 6 months

• Change in waist circumference

  At baseline and 6 months

• Change in hip circumference

  At baseline and 6 months

• Change in fat mass

  Fat mass will be assessed using whole-body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA)

  At baseline and 6 months

• Change in body fat percentage (%)

  Body fat percentage (%) will be assessed using whole-body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA)

  At baseline and 6 months

• Change in fat free mass

  Fat free mass will be assessed using whole-body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA)

  At baseline and 6 months

• Change in lean body mass

  Lean body mass will be assessed using whole-body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA)

  At baseline and 6 months

• Change in cardiorespiratory fitness

  Cardiorespiratory fitness will be assessed using the Ebbeling single stage treadmill test

  At baseline and 6 months

• Change in functional performance

  Functional performance will be assessed using the Short Physical Performance Battery

  At baseline and 6 months

• Change in muscle endurance

  Muscle endurance will be assessed using the push-up and curl-up testing protocols

  At baseline and 6 months

• Change in resting blood pressure

  Resting systolic and diastolic blood pressure will be assessed using a sphygmomanometer

  At baseline and 6 months

• Change in quality of life

  Quality of life will be evaluated using questionnaire

  At baseline and 6 months

• Change in vitality

  Vitality will be evaluated using questionnaire

  At baseline and 6 months

• Change in anxiety level

  Anxiety will be evaluated using questionnaire

  At baseline and 6 months

• Change in flourishing

  Flourishing will be evaluated using questionnaire

  At baseline and 6 months

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Change in dietary intake

  At baseline and 6 months

• Change in daily number of steps

  At baseline and 6 months

• Change in daily time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity

  At baseline and 6 months

Study Arms (2)

Control Group

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Participants in this group will maintain their habitual physical activity level without participating in any form of exercise training

Other: No exercise training

Experimental Group

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants in this group will participate in two weekly dance exercise training sessions over a 6-month period

Other: Exercise training

Interventions

Exercise training OTHER

This intervention will consist of two weekly dance exercise training sessions over a 6-month period. Each session will be performed under supervision and include a 10-min warm up (2-3 dances of very slow tempo), a 45-min main dance exercise session (\~15 dances of various tempos i.e. slow, moderate and fast tempo) and a 5-min cool-down period (walking and stretching)

Experimental Group

No exercise training OTHER

It will include only habitual physical activity level without participating in any form of exercise training

Control Group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 35 Years - 70 Years
• Sex: female
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Free of musculoskeletal injuries
• Free of chronic non-communicable diseases
• Normal menstrual cycle (for premenopausal women)
• No recent childbirth (previous 12 months) (for premenopausal women)
• At least 12 months since the oncet of menopause (for postmenopausal women)
• Non smokers

You may not qualify if:

• Pregnancy (for premenopausal women)
• Contraindications to exercise training
• Illness or other medical condition
• Use of medication

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Thessaly: lead

Study Sites (1)

Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, University of Thessaly

Trikala, Karies, 42100, Greece

RECRUITING

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Psychological Well-Being

Interventions

Exercise

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Personal Satisfaction; Behavior

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Motor Activity; Movement; Musculoskeletal Physiological Phenomena; Musculoskeletal and Neural Physiological Phenomena

Study Officials

• Maria Bougiesi, PhD

  University of Thessaly, Department of Physical Education and Sport Science

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Dimitrios Draganidis, PhD

CONTACT

+30 2431047047; ddraganidis@uth.gr

Ioannis G Fatouros, PhD

CONTACT

+ 30 2431047047; ifatouros@uth.gr

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: OTHER
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Assistant Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: May 22, 2026
• First Posted: May 29, 2026
• Study Start: May 30, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): November 30, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 20, 2026
• Last Updated: June 12, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-05

Locations

GR (1)