South Korean Study to Prevent Cognitive Impairment and Protect Brain Health Through Lifestyle Intervention in At-Risk Elderly People: Protocol of a Multicenter, Randomized Controlled Feasibility Trial

Abstract

Background and Purpose The prevalence of dementia is increasing in South Korea. Multidomain interventions may be useful for preventing dementia. Such programs need to be disseminated to elderly Koreans throughout the country. We have developed programs of the SoUth Korean study to PrEvent cognitive impaiRment and protect BRAIN health through lifestyle intervention in at-risk elderly people (SUPERBRAIN), which consists of a facility-based multidomain intervention (FMI) program and a home-based multidomain intervention (HMI) program suitable for elderly Koreans. We aim to determine the feasibility of the SUPERBRAIN programs before a large-scale randomized controlled trial. Methods We will recruit 150 participants among those without dementia aged 60-79 years with at least 1 modifiable dementia risk factor. They will be randomly assigned in a 1:1:1 ratio to the FMI, HMI, and the waiting-list control arm. The 6-month multidomain intervention consists of management of metabolic and vascular risk factors, cognitive training and social activity, physical exercise, nutritional guidance, and motivational enhancement programs. The primary outcomes are adherence and retention rates and changes in the total scale index score of the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status from baseline to the study end. The main secondary outcomes are disability, depressive symptoms, quality of life, vascular risk factors, physical performance, nutritional assessment, and motivation questionnaire. There will be an exploratory evaluation of neurotrophic, neurodegeneration, and neuroinflammation factors, microbiome, telomere length, electroencephalography, and neuroimaging measures. Conclusions The results obtained will provide information on the applicability of these multidomain intervention programs to at-risk elderly people.

Feasibility of a 12 Week Physical Intervention to Prevent Cognitive Decline and Disability in the At-Risk Elderly Population in Korea

“…Although our facility-based PEI had good feasibility, measures to improve the withdrawal rate of 13.3% and decrease in adherence rate of 8% over 12 weeks could be necessary in longer trials. The inclusion of a motivation enhancement program in SUPERBRAIN seemed to be helpful for maintaining adherence to PEI [ 11 ].…”

“…Early on in the program, our participants may have had trouble performing exercise at home with only booklets for guidance even though exercise professionals had provided tips on how to incorporate the exercises at home. Therefore, in SUPERBRAIN, in addition to the motivation enhancement program, tablets with exercise movies performed in group workouts were distributed [ 11 ].…”

“…Several recent studies in Western countries suggest that multidomain lifestyle intervention, including dietary counseling, physical exercise, cognitive training, and vascular and metabolic risk monitoring, can delay cognitive decline and progression to dementia in at-risk individuals [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ]. A dementia prevention program targeting the at-risk elderly, termed SUPERBRAIN (SoUth Korean study to PrEvent cognitive impaiRment and protect BRAIN), is being developed with the support of the Ministry of Health and Welfare in South Korea [ 11 ]. This program consists of management of metabolic and vascular risk factors, cognitive training and social activity, physical exercise, nutritional guidance, and motivational enhancement strategies.…”

The effectiveness of a motivational enhancement smartphone application promoting lifestyle improvement for brain health: A randomized controlled trial

“…Thereafter, the Worldwide FINGERS network, which adapts and optimizes the FINGER model to the region in question, spread globally [ 7 ]. Park et al’s South Korean study to prevent cognitive impairment and protect brain health through lifestyle intervention in at-risk older adults (SUPERBRAIN) is also part of the Worldwide FINGERS network [ 8 ].…”

Development of a Low-Molecular-Weight Aβ42 Detection System Using a Enzyme-Linked Peptide Assay

“…It leads to memory loss, cognitive and physical impairment, and finally death [ 1 , 2 ]. The incidence of AD is continuously increasing in the United States and the Republic of Korea [ 3 , 4 , 5 ]. Although many studies have investigated the treatment of AD, it is still deemed an incurable disease.…”