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STUDY PROTOCOL article

Front. Sports Act. Living
Sec. Physical Activity in the Prevention and Management of Disease
Volume 6 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fspor.2024.1418439
This article is part of the Research Topic Cardiopulmonary Exercise testing in chronic diseases View all articles

The impact of a 12-week tele-exercise program on cognitive function and cerebral oxygenation in patients with OSA: Randomized Controlled Trial -Protocol Study

Provisionally accepted
Vasileios T. Stavrou Vasileios T. Stavrou 1,2,3*Konstantinos Pitris Konstantinos Pitris 4Fofi Constantinidou Fofi Constantinidou 5Antonia Adamidou Antonia Adamidou 6Frangiskos Frangopoulos Frangiskos Frangopoulos 6Panagiotis Bargiotas Panagiotis Bargiotas 2,3
  • 1 Laboratory of Cardio-Pulmonary Testing and Pulmonary Rehabilitation, Respiratory Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece
  • 2 University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
  • 3 Department of Neurology, Medical School, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
  • 4 KIOS Research and Innovation Centre of Excellence, Faculty of Engineering, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
  • 5 Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences and Education, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus
  • 6 Respiratory Department, Nicosia General Hospital, Strovolos, Cyprus

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) contributes to a number of adverse health effects, particularly on brain health. Chronic sleep disruption caused by OSA could adversely affect cognitive health. Exercise is recommended as a non-pharmacological intervention for patients who are intolerant to continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and has been shown to have beneficial effects on brain health and cognitive function. The aim of this protocol is to investigate the effects of a 12-week tele-exercise program on cognitive function and specific parameters of brain activity, including brain metabolism and oxygenation, in patients with OSA. The project aims to demonstrate the multi-dimensional relationship between exercise, cognition and brain oxygenation/metabolism. Our local ethics committee has approved the study. Our population sample (group A = OSA with cognitive impairment (CI) and teleexercise; group B = OSA with CI and no tele-exercise; group C = OSA without CI and no teleexercise) will undergo assessment both before and after a 12-week tele-exercise intervention program. This assessment will include a comprehensive battery of subjective and objective assessment tests. Data will be analysed according to group stratification. We hypothesize a beneficial effect of tele-exercise on sleep and cognitive parameters and we are confident that this study will raise awareness among healthcare professionals of the brain health benefits of exercise in patients with low compliance to CPAP treatment.

    Keywords: Sleep Apnea, Brain health, Tele-exercise, tele-rehabilitation, cognitive impairment

    Received: 16 Apr 2024; Accepted: 13 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Stavrou, Pitris, Constantinidou, Adamidou, Frangopoulos and Bargiotas. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Vasileios T. Stavrou, Laboratory of Cardio-Pulmonary Testing and Pulmonary Rehabilitation, Respiratory Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece

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