RESEDENT study- REducing SEDENTary behaviour may slow cognitive decline in older adults with mild cognitive impairment: A pilot study

Physical activity (PA) has been shown to slow down dementia. Unfortunately, older adults spend most of their day in sedentary behaviours (SB). Breaking up prolonged bouts of sitting with intermittent bouts of light intensity PA may reduce glycemic variability in the brain; potentially mitigating cognitive decline. This study investigated how interrupting SB with 10 min bouts of light intensity PA 3x a day would affect mild to moderate cognitive impairment progression (primary outcome) in older adults residing in an assisted living facility. Participants (n=25) were assigned in clusters into a two arm 10-week single site pilot randomized controlled trial. Secondary outcomes included physical function and quality of life. Results showed that the intervention group improved their cognitive scores whereas the control group’s cognitive scores deteriorated. Similar findings were shown for the secondary measures. Reducing SB can improve cognitive and physical function along with quality of life in older adults