COgnitive and Physical Exercise (COPE) Prehabilitation Pilot Feasibility Study

Completed · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Cognitive Impairment, Physical Impairment, Postoperative Complications

In brief

Cognitive and functional impairment are debilitating problems for survivors of major surgery. Efforts to modify medical treatments to prevent such impairment are ongoing and may yet yield significant benefits. An area in need of study is whether building patients' cognitive and physical reserve through a prescribed program of cognitive and physical exercise before the physiological insult (a prehabilitation effort) can improve long-term outcomes. Prehabilitation efforts before surgery thus far have focused on preemptive physical therapy to improve post-surgical functional outcomes. No work, however, has been done to attenuate the cognitive decline commonly seen after surgical illness by exercising the brain before the surgical insult. Cognitive prehabilitation is a novel therapeutic approach that applies well-understood techniques derived from brain plasticity research. Our approach is bolstered by data that demonstrate that cognitive training programs are effective and have a very high likelihood of fostering improvement in patient outcomes across a range of populations. It is not yet known if these programs can improve cognitive reserve, allowing patients' minds to better manage the acute stress of surgery and hospitalization. The primary aim of this pilot study is to evaluate the feasibility of cognitive and physical prehabilitation training in adult patients undergoing major non-cardiac surgery who are at risk for postoperative cognitive and functional decline. The secondary aim is to study the effects of cognitive and physical prehabilitation training on cognitive abilities, functional status, and quality of life after surgery.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT03094988

Run by

Vanderbilt University

People needed

32

Starts

2017-03-01

Expected to finish

2018-09-01

Last updated by the study team

2021-01-14

Who can join

Age: 18 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Adults undergoing major surgery with the likelihood of prolonged hospitalization or critical illness among the following surgical services: general surgery, surgical oncology, otolaryngology, hepatobiliary, thoracic, and vascular surgery

You may not qualify if…

• Blind, deaf, or unable to speak English, as these conditions would preclude our ability to perform the proposed cognitive and physical program
• Pregnancy
• Prisoners
• Severe frailty or physical impairment that prohibits participation in prehabilitation program
• Patients with documented dementia or cognitive impairment that precludes ability to self-consent for surgery and study participation
• Less than 2 weeks from scheduled surgery
• Patients without home internet access

Where it is running

• Vanderbilt University Medical Center — Nashville, Tennessee, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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