The effects of a 16-week aerobic exercise programme on cognitive function in people living with HIV

Abstract

High levels of cardiovascular fitness and physical activity are associated with higher levels of cognitive function in people with HIV, thus, they may reduce the risk of developing HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND). This study aimed to investigate the effects of a 16-week aerobic exercise intervention on cognitive function in people with HIV. Eleven participants living with HIV were recruited into the study. Participants were randomised into either an exercise group (n = 5), that completed a 16-week aerobic exercise programme training, 3 times per week (2 supervised sessions and one unsupervised session) or a control group (n = 6) that received no intervention. Outcomes measured included cognitive function (Montreal cognitive assessment (MOCA) and the Trail making tests A and B), aerobic fitness (modified Bruce protocol), sleep quality (Pittsburgh sleep quality index; PSQI) and physical activity levels (seven-day accelerometry). At baseline, higher levels of moderate physical activity were positively correlated with higher MOCA scores and levels of aerobic fitness were negatively associated with Trail A scores (P = 0.04 and P = 0.001 respectively). However, exercise training did not induce any significant improvements in cognitive function or aerobic fitness. The overall mean adherence rate to the exercise programme was 60%. In conclusion, in the present study a 16-week aerobic exercise intervention did not affect the cognitive function of participants with HIV. It is likely that longer intervention periods and/or higher adherence rates to exercise might be needed for an aerobic exercise programme to be effective in improving cognitive function in a cohort with no baseline cognitive impairments.

Effectiveness of Exercise Training on Mental Health, Physical Activity Level and Social Participation in People Living with HIV/AIDS: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…The initial search yielded 795 potential citations of which seven publications were considered eligible to be included in the review. Using the primary outcome measured in each study, mental health included seven publications [23,[34][35][36][37][38] while physical activity included only one publication [34]. However, no study reported the effect of exercise intervention on social participation.…”

“…Reasons for exclusion of studies following full-text screening included: studies had a control group that was exercising (n= 1), pre-test -post-test study design with no control group (n =1), Non-Randomized control trials (n=3), studies with missing data (n=2), studies with a non-human population (n=1), studies that did not have outcome measure of interest (n=1) ( Figure 2). [34]. For aerobic and resistance exercises: Jaggers, Hand [36] has a control group that engaged in the sedentary activity; while a study Fillipas, Oldmeadow [37] had Unsupervised walking programme as control and another study Dianatinasab, Fararouei [23] has a "behavioural disease counselling and treatment" control group.…”

“…For aerobic and resistance exercises: Jaggers, Hand [36] has a control group that engaged in the sedentary activity; while a study Fillipas, Oldmeadow [37] had Unsupervised walking programme as control and another study Dianatinasab, Fararouei [23] has a "behavioural disease counselling and treatment" control group. For aerobic exercises: Neidig, Smith [38] has a "usual activity" control, Aweto, Aiyegbusi [35] engaged "only counselling" control and a study [34] maintained a "no intervention" control. For therapeutic exercises: Daniels and Van Niekerk [39] utilised a "read prescribed materials" control.…”

“…Only one study [34] reported the effect of an exercise intervention on physical activity level. McDermott, Zaporojan [34] utilised supervised aerobic exercises only and maintained a "no intervention" control.…”

“…Mental health A total of 346 participants were included in this review Participants were within the age range of 18 years and above, and the majority (222 or 64.16%) had asymptomatic HIV (Stage one) based on the WHO clinical staging for HIV/AIDS [40], The location of studies varied as two studies were located in the USA [36,38] and one study each in Nigeria [35], Iran [23], Australia [37], South Africa [39] and Ireland [34] ( Table 1) Physical activity Level…”