Below are testimonials provided by participants who took part in our study.
My participation in the FAB study was life changing!! I am still doing the intervals and some of the circuit activities……and have started Two Chi classes!!
Anne, 66 – United Kingdom
I enjoyed my participation in the FAB study very much. It motivated me to get back into exercise. My fitness improved due to the FAB exercise programme, which made me feel like I got my mojo back. I have continued on with the exercise program even though I finished my participation in the study one year ago.
Jennifer, 64 – United Kingdom
The FAB study was interesting and challenging. It encouraged me to explore new ways of keeping fit and active. Running has become a very important part of my lifestyle. I am now trying to run regularly and I just completed my first 10k run event. I go to a runners class where everyone is at least 15 years younger than me, and I hold my own competently.
Karen, 62 – United Kingdom
Thoroughly enjoyed my participation in the FAB study (most of the time). It gave a target and gave me motivation to exercise.
Mike, 70 – United Kingdom
I enjoyed the experience of participating in the FAB study. I found it very interesting and I feel it was beneficial to me. It made me mentally and physically feel more positive overall.
Jane, 64 – United Kingdom
My participation in the FAB study has got me back to a certain level of fitness that I’d like to retain. Plus, it has given me the confidence to take on, and complete, a 50 mile Camino walk in Northern Spain.
Steve, 69 – United Kingdom
The FAB study inspired and motivated me to be more physically active during the study. After FAB was completed, I challenged myself by jogging/walking a half marathon just a month later. This is an achievement I wouldn’t have accomplished without participating in the FAB project.
Knut, 73 – Norway
My overall experience of the FAB study was that it was professionally conducted, and I found the participation comfortable with skilled and professional individuals involved. Participating in the FAB study has increased my confidence in training and maintaining physical activity. I feel more motivated to exercise as I see that I can do it and achieve good results.
Anne, 70 – Norway
Before participating, I had issues bending my left knee and had been using glucosamine for many years to alleviate my arthritis. After participating in FAB, I stopped taking the medication and noticed a significant improvement in the mobility of my knee. I have continued with my weekly circuit training session unchanged and can now do more push-ups than before. I have also maintained my weekly uphill interval session.
Kirsten, 74 – Norway
I have learned that my older body can handle exercise and that it has a positive impact both physically and mentally.
Inge, 80 – Norway
I have realized that I am capable of achieving more than I think, and it has strengthened my self-confidence in this area. I have become more aware of the importance of exercise as I age, which has contributed to a greater understanding of the significance of physical activity for my well-being.
Wenche, 62 – Norway
I have learned more about what I can do to improve my fitness and strengthen my muscles. I have felt a very positive effect on my well-being through my participation in the study.
Unni, 73 – Norway
The FAB study made me feel more energetic and lively, and I noticed an improvement in my concentration at work. I have proven to myself that I can achieve results if I set my mind to it, and I was impressed by what I was able to accomplish during the study.
Anne-Grethe, 61 – Norway
I had challenges with arthritis, but the gradual progression of training and exercises in FAB was highly beneficial for my health.
Anonymous, 65 – Norway
Before you decide whether to take part it is important for you to understand why the research is being done and what it will involve. Please take time to read the following information carefully and discuss it with others if you wish to. Ask the researchers if there is anything that is not clear or if you would like more information. Take your time to decide whether you wish to take part or not.
Do you live in Birmingham (UK) or close to it? Choose the “Birmingham” option underneath. Do you live in Kristiansand (Norway) or close to it? Choose the “Kristiansand” option underneath.
The following information is specific for the participants living in the UK and who wants to participate in the study conducted in Birmingham.
What is the purpose of the study?
The way we process information changes as we grow older. In the present study, we investigate how cognitive and language processing is related to physical fitness, in young and older adults. We will therefore test a group of younger and older native English speakers on their language and cognitive skills. In addition, we will ask half of the older adults to take part in a 6-month fitness intervention (i.e., the active group). We will test them again afterwards and compare them to the other half of the older adults (the control group) in order to measure the effects of training. To test the effects of being bilingual, a similar study will be performed in Norway on Norwegian-English bilinguals.
Who can participate in the project?
To be eligible to participate, you should be a native speaker of British English. You should have normal or corrected-to-normal vision and hearing and have no diagnosed cognitive impairments or language impairments such as dyslexia or stuttering.
You can take part if you are aged between 18 and 35 (younger age group) or between 60 and 85 (older age group). We are interested in measuring the effects of increased physical activity in older adults. Therefore, if you are in our older age group (60-85 years of age) you should currently do less than a total of 150 mins of physical activity at a moderate intensity per week; however, you should be in good general health.
What will I be asked to do?
- A. Screening measures.
During the first visit, all participants will first be asked to sign a consent form so that we can be sure that you are happy to be involved in this research. Next you will be asked to complete number questionnaires and tests: a language profile questionnaire, a general health questionnaire, and a questionnaire on physical activity levels.
We will also monitor your heart activity at rest with an electrocardiogram (ECG). These are screening measurements which will allow us to decide whether you can safely participate in the remainder of our study.
Exclusion criteria for our study are: a heart condition, uncontrolled high blood pressure, diabetes or another metabolic disorder, respiratory disease (e.g. chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) or a neuropsychiatric disorder.
Your electrocardiogram will be checked by a clinician; if we observe any abnormal heart rhythms, we will send this information to you so that you can take it to your GP, if you so wish. In case you do not meet our eligibility criteria, you will take no further part in the study and any information collected about you so far will be destroyed.
Lastly, you can only participate in this study once you are vaccinated against COVID-19 (i.e., have had either 2 doses of a double dose COVID-19 vaccination or a 1 single-dose vaccination. See here for more information on the types of vaccination currently approved in the UK: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/coronavirus-vaccine/).
You must also have had booster vaccinations if these are required. The latest vaccination dose must be over 3 weeks prior to you visiting campus.
You can only participate if you are able to show the researcher your vaccine status upon arrival to campus. We will send you information about how to do this through the NHS website or app.
- B. Main study measures and exercise programme
If you meet our eligibility criteria, we can invite you to participate in our main study. The main study consists of multiple testing sessions which we will schedule when it suits you. Completing all questionnaires, computer tests, and the fitness and physical function tests will take around 8 hours, divided across at least four days – both before and after a six-month physical exercise programme. Younger adults will not do the six-month physical exercise programme.
In these sessions you will be asked to do some computer tasks. For example, we ask you to listen to spoken sentences to find particular words, or show you pictures of objects and ask you to name the objects. These tasks will take up to three hours in total for the younger adults, who will only do them once.
Older participants will also be invited to complete an exercise fitness test to determine your current aerobic capacity (i.e., VO2max). This is a progressive walking exercise test that involves walking on a treadmill where the incline of the treadmill is increased in stages (e.g. every 4 minutes) until you cannot keep going. The actual incremental test should last no more than 30 minutes, including an active ‘cool down’ period. Before completing this test, we will ask you to abstain from heavy physical exercise and alcohol for 24h. You will also be asked not to consume food for 2 h prior to reporting to the laboratory. As well as this fitness test, we will ask you to complete a number of physical function tasks, such as a hand grip strength test, an ‘up and go’ test, sit-to-stand test, as well as testing balancing and joint flexibility. These tests will allow us to determine how the exercise intervention has improved your general physical function.
Half of the older adults will be randomly assigned to the physical exercise program (active group) the other half will be asked not to change their normal activity levels for the same six month period (control group). If you are assigned to the non-exercising control group, it is important that you try your best not to significantly modify your behaviour or level of physical activity during the study period.
The six-month exercise programme focusing on aerobic endurance will involve a home-based intervention. We will provide you with a range of online exercise sessions that you can complete in your home. You will be asked to complete at least 3 sessions per week and we will provide you with a heart monitor and activity tracker to monitor your exercise sessions and general physical activity across this 6-month period. Once a month, you will meet the test manager to download data from the heart rate monitor.
If you are allocated to the control group, we will provide you with the heart rate monitor and activity tracker to monitor your normal activity levels, without providing any of the online resources to increase your physical activity patterns over this period.
For older adults only, we will also ask you to take part in an MRI scanning session. During the MRI scan, we will get you to perform a computerised language task – the task is relatively straightforward and you will have plenty of practice before you enter the scanner. The scanning session will last approximately 2 hours, and will take place once before the intervention at the start of the study and again 6 months later after the intervention. The scans will be overseen by trained MRI operators and we will of course ensure that it is safe and appropriate for you to undergo MRI scanning – there are comprehensive health and safety screening checks beforehand.
If you decide you would like to take part in this study, we will go over what you will be doing in more detail and there will be opportunity for you to ask questions. You are encouraged to ask questions prior to and throughout your visits with us.
Do I have to take part and can I withdraw my consent?
Participation in the project is voluntary. If you wish to take part, you will need to sign a declaration of consent. If you decide to take part and then later change your mind, either before you start the study, during it or afterwards, you can withdraw without giving your reasons, and, if you wish, your data will be destroyed. The deadline for withdrawal after participation to the study is one month after the last session you participated.
Will my taking part in this study be kept confidential?
Any personal data concerning health that has been recorded about you will only be used as described in the purpose of the project. You have the right to access information that has been recorded about you and the right to stipulate that any error(s) in the information that is recorded is/are corrected. You also have the right to know which security measures have been/will be taken when your personal data concerning health is processed.
All information collected as part of this study is fully confidential. There will be a special code on all of the data provided by you. This is only used if you decide to withdraw from the study and we need to destroy your answers. Otherwise, your answers are never linked with your name. The data will not enable any individual to identify you and only those concerned with the research project (named under ‘Who can I ask for further information about the study?‘ below) will have access to the information you have provided. All information collected as part of this study will be kept in locked filing cabinets and on password protected computers. Your data will be stored for at least 10 years after the study is finished.
Will I be compensated for my participation?
You will receive £7.50 per hour for participation in all our screening and testing sessions.
If you withdraw before the experiment starts, you will not receive any compensation. If you withdraw during the experiment, compensation will be prorated by the time participated. If you withdraw after you participated, this would not affect your compensation. There is no remuneration for the time during the intervention phase (6 months).
What are the possible benefits of taking part?
Your contribution will help us learn more about cognitive and language processing abilities and the relationship between these and physical fitness.
What are the possible risks of taking part?
Performing moderate or vigorous exercise carries the following risks that we feel you should be made aware of, as well as some of the things we are doing to minimise these risks:
- Sensations of fatigue and physical exhaustion – this will be short-lived and will subside in a few minutes upon stopping exercise
- Fainting – often related to physical exhaustion and then suddenly stopping, this will be mitigated by the inclusion of a cool-down period immediately after the formal exercise test is complete to gradually bring you back to normal
- Cardiovascular event (e.g., myocardial infarction or ‘heart attack’) – this is a small risk, particularly for healthy individuals and because anyone who may be at risk is likely to be excluded from the study after our initial screening. We will also ensure that you are warmed-up and cooled down appropriately around exercise sessions. A First Aid qualified researcher or trainer will always be present, and in the unlikely event of a medical emergency, standardised protocols will be followed to ensure appropriate medical attention provided straight away. Medical experts are located at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. The School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Birmingham (where physical fitness test is taking place) are situated closely to the main hospital.
What happens to the answers I give?
The results may produce publishable research of interest to a wide scientific community and lead to new grant applications and collaborations. Your data are stored anonymously. You will not be identified in any report or publication.
What if something goes wrong? Who can I complain to?
In case you have a complaint about your treatment by a member of the research team (contact information listed below) or anything to do with the study, you can approach one of the investigators listed under ‘Who can I ask for further information about the study?‘ below. In the unlikely event that you suffer injury to yourself or damage to your property as a result in taking part in this research, the University does have an insurance policy to cover harm arising as a result of the defect in the design of the study.
Who can I ask for further information about the study?
This research is financed by the Norwegian Research council and supervised by a team of Academics at the University of Agder: Professor Linda Wheeldon (linda.r.wheeldon@uia.no), Professor Allison Wetterlin (Allison.wetterlin@uia.no), Dr. Hilde Lohne- Seiler (hilde.l.seiler@uia.no), and Professor Sveinung Berntsen Stølevik (sveinung.berntsen@uia.no), and the University of Birmingham Dr. Katrien Segaert (k.segaert@bham.ac.uk), Dr. Sam Lucas (s.j.e.lucas@bham.ac.uk), and Dr. Foyzul Rahman (f.rahman@bham.ac.uk).
Please contact them if you have any queries about the study.
Who is organising the research?
This study is organised by the School of Psychology and School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Birmingham and has been approved by the University of Birmingham Ethics Committee.
The following information is specific for the participants living in Norway and who wants to participate in the study conducted in Kristiansand.
What is the purpose of the study?
The way we process information changes as we grow older. In the present study, we investigate how cognitive language processing is affected by age and bilingualism, and whether it is related to physical fitness, in older adults. We will therefore test a group of younger and older bilingual adults on their language and cognitive skills. In addition, we will ask half of the older adults to take part in a fitness intervention (the active group). To measure the effects of training, we will test this group again afterwards and compare them to the other half of the older adults who will also be tested twice but will not take part in the fitness training (the control group). To test the effects of being bilingual, a similar study will be performed in the U.K. on English speaking monolinguals.
Who can participate in the project?
To be eligible to participate, you should be a Native speaker of Norwegian with no other home languages (excluding English). You should have a reasonable proficiency in English as your second language. This means that you can read and understand the current information and hold an understandable conversation in English (even though you might make mistakes). You should have normal or corrected-to-normal vision and hearing and have no diagnosed cognitive impairments or language impairments such as dyslexia or stuttering.
You can take part if you are aged between 18 and 35 (younger age group) or between 60 and 85 (older age group). We are interested in measuring the effects of increased physical activity in older adults. Therefore, if you are in our older age group (60-85 years of age) you should currently not be doing more than a total of 150 minutes of physical activity at a moderate intensity per week, and you should be in good general health.
What will I be asked to do?
- A. Screening measures.
During the first visit, all participants will first be asked to sign a consent form so that we can be sure that you are happy to be involved in this research. Next you will be asked to complete number questionnaires and tests: a language profile questionnaire, a general health questionnaire, and a questionnaire on physical activity levels.
We will also ask our older participants to provide a written health certificate from their medical doctor. These are screening measurements which will allow us to decide whether you can safely participate in the remainder of our study. Exclusion criteria for the older adults in our study are: a heart condition, uncontrolled high blood pressure, diabetes or another metabolic disorder, asthma or respiratory illness, anaemia, current smoking, flu in the past month, neurological diseases disturbing voluntary movement. You should also not be already participating in specific endurance training programs or studies.
- B. Main study measures and exercise programme
If you meet our eligibility criteria, we can invite you to participate in our main study. The main study consists multiple testing sessions which we will schedule when it suits you. In these sessions you will be asked to do some computer tasks. For example, we ask you to listen to spoken sentences to find particular words, or show you pictures of objects and ask you to name the objects. You will do these tasks in both Norwegian and English. These tasks will take up to three hours in total for the younger adults, who will only do them once.
Older participants will also be invited to complete an exercise fitness test to determine your current aerobic capacity (i.e., VO2max). This is a progressive walking exercise test that involves walking on a treadmill where the incline of the treadmill is increased in stages (e.g. every 4 minutes) until you cannot keep going. Respiratory variables and heart rate data will be collected, in addition to a finger pick sample of blood that will be obtained and sampled for blood lactate concentration. The actual incremental test should last no more than 30 minutes, including an active ‘cool down’ period. Before completing this test, we will ask you to abstain from heavy physical exercise and alcohol for 24h. You will also be asked not to consume food for 2 hours prior to reporting to your test appointment. As well as this fitness test, we will ask you to complete number of physical function tasks, such as a hand grip strength test, an ‘up and go’ test, sit-to-stand test, as well as testing balancing and joint flexibility. These tests will allow us to determine how the exercise intervention has improved your general physical function.
For the older adults, completing all questionnaires, computer tests and a fitness test, will take around 8 hours, divided across at least four days – both before and after a six-month physical exercise program. Half of the older adults will be randomly assigned to the physical exercise program (active group) the other half will be asked not to change their normal activity levels for the same six-month period (control group). If you are assigned to the non-exercising control group, it is important that you try your best not to significantly modify your behaviour or level of physical activity during the study period. Younger adults will not do the six-month physical exercise programme.
The six-month exercise programme focusing on aerobic endurance will involve a home-based intervention. We will provide you with a range of online exercise sessions that you can complete in your home. You will be asked to complete at least 3 sessions per week, and we will provide you with a heart monitor and activity monitor to register your exercise sessions and general physical activity across this 6-month period. Once a month, you will meet the test manager to download data from the heart rate monitor. Every training session will be registered using heart rate monitor. Before start of the project, in the middle, and after completing the project general physical activity level will be conducted using an activity monitor.
If you are assigned to the control group, we provide you with an activity monitor to monitor your normal activity level. However, you will have to wait to get your heart rate monitor and access to your workouts online. You will be awarded this after your six-month participation in the project is over.
If you decide you would like to take part in this study, we will go over what you will be doing in more detail and there will be opportunity for you to ask questions. You are encouraged to ask questions prior to and throughout your visits with us.
Do I have to take part and can I withdraw my consent?
Participation in the project is voluntary. If you wish to take part, you will need to sign the declaration of consent on the last page. You can, at any given time and without reason withdraw your consent. If you decide to withdraw participation in the project, you can demand that your tests and personal data concerning health be deleted, unless however, the personal data concerning health and tests have already been analysed or used in scientific publications. If you at a later point, wish to withdraw consent or have questions regarding the project, you can contact Dr. Eunice Fernandes (eunice.fernandes@uia.no) or Professor Linda Wheeldon (linda.r.wheeldon@uia.no).
Will my taking part in this study be kept confidential?
Any personal data concerning health that has been recorded about you will only be used as described in the purpose of the project. You have the right to access information that has been recorded about you and the right to stipulate that any error(s) in the information that is recorded is/are corrected. You also have the right to know which security measures have been/will be taken when your personal data concerning health is processed.
All information will be processed and used without your name or personal identification number, or any other information that is directly identifiable to you. A code links you and your personal data concerning health via an identifier list. Only the UiA researchers on the project listed below will have access to this list. Information about you will be anonymised or deleted five years after the project has ended. Your anonymised data will be stored for at least 10 years after the study is finished.
Will I be compensated for my participation?
Younger participants will receive compensation for participation in all screening and testing sessions in the form of vouchers for 300kr. Older participants in the intervention group will be compensated with a heart rate monitor and the online exercise resources as part of the intervention. Older participants assigned to the control group will receive the same compensation as the intervention group but after they have completed the second phase of testing (meaning right after you have completed your project participation). If you withdraw before the experiment starts, you will not receive any compensation. If you withdraw during the experiment, compensation will be based on the time participated. If you withdraw after you participated, this will not affect your compensation.
What are the possible benefits of taking part?
Your contribution will help us learn more about cognitive and language processing abilities and the relationship between these and physical fitness in ageing.
What are the possible risks of taking part?
Performing moderate or vigorous exercise carries the following risks that we feel you should be made aware of, as well as some of the things we are doing to minimise these risks:
- Sensations of fatigue and physical exhaustion – this will be short-lived and will subside in a few minutes upon stopping exercise
- Fainting – often related to physical exhaustion and then suddenly stopping, this will be mitigated by the inclusion of a cool-down period immediately after the formal exercise test is complete to gradually bring you back to normal
- Cardiovascular event (e.g., myocardial infarction or ‘heart attack’) – this is a small risk, particularly for healthy individuals and because anyone who may be at risk is likely to be excluded from the study after our initial screening. We will also ensure that you are warmed-up and cooled down appropriately around exercise sessions. A First Aid qualified researcher or trainer will always be present, and in the unlikely event of a medical emergency, standardised protocols will be followed to ensure appropriate medical attention provided straight away. Medical experts are located at the Hospital. The department of Sport Science and Physical Education at the University of Agder (where physical fitness test is taking place) is situated near to the hospital.
What happens to the answers I give?
The results may produce publishable research of interest to a wide scientific community and lead to new grant applications and collaborations. Your data are stored anonymously. You will not be identified in any report or publication.
What if something goes wrong? Who can I complain to?
In case you have a complaint about your treatment by a member of the research team (contact information listed below) or anything to do with the study, you can approach one of the investigators listed under the next question. In the unlikely event that you suffer injury to yourself or damage to your property as a result in taking part in this research, the University does have an insurance policy to cover harm arising as a result of the defect in the design of the study.
Who can I ask for further information about the study?
This research is financed by the Norwegian Research council and supervised by a team of Academics at the University of Agder: Professor Linda Wheeldon (linda.r.wheeldon@uia.no), Professor Allison Wetterlin (Allison.wetterlin@uia.no), Dr. Hilde Lohne- Seiler (hilde.l.seiler@uia.no), and Professor Sveinung Berntsen Stølevik (sveinung.berntsen@uia.no), and at the University of Birmingham (Dr. Katrien Segaert: k.segaert@bham.ac.uk; Dr. Sam Lucas: (s.j.e.lucas@bham.ac.uk) and Dr. Foyzul Rahman (F.Rahman@bham.ac.uk).
The study at UiA is run by our Postdoctoral researcher Eunice Fernandes (eunice.fernandes@uia.no). and our PHD student Sindre Herskedal Fosstveit (sindre.fosstveit@uia.no). Please contact them if you have any queries about the study.
You can also get in touch with the UiA’s Data Protection Officer (Ina Danielsen ina.danielsen@uia.no) if you have any questions related to the use of your personal health data concerning health in the research project
Please contact any member of our team if you have any queries about the study.
Who is organising the research?
This study is organised by the Institute of Foreign languages and Translation, and the Department of Sport Science and Physical Education at the University of Agder and has approval from the Regional committee for medical and health research ethics (16.12.2020 ref:163931) and the Norwegian Center for research data (reference). In accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation the controller [UiA] and the project manager [Linda Wheeldon] is independently responsible to ensure that the processing of your personal data concerning health has a legal basis. The NSD has assessed that processing of your personal data is in accordance with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we are processing your personal data based your consent. You have the right to submit a complaint on the processing of your personal health data concerning health to the Norwegian Data Inspectorate (Datatilsynet).
Følgende informasjon er spesifikk for deltakerne som bor i Norge og som ønsker å delta i studien utført i Kristiansand.
Hva er formålet med prosjektet?
Når vi blir eldre, endres måten vi behandler informasjon på. I denne studien, som gjennomføres i Kristiansand, undersøker vi hvordan kognitive språkprosesser påvirkes av alder og tospråklighet, og om disse to faktorene er knyttet til fysisk form. Vi skal derfor teste språklige og kognitive ferdigheter hos en gruppe yngre og en gruppe eldre tospråklige voksne. Etterpå skal den eldre gruppen deles i to, i en aktiv gruppe og en kontrollgruppe. Den aktive gruppen skal delta i en treningsintervensjon (utholdenhetstrening). Etter treningsperiodenskal vi teste språklige, kognitive og fysiske (fysisk form, lungefunksjon og fysisk funksjon) ferdigheter hos begge gruppene igjen, for å undersøke om fysisk trening har en effekt. For å teste effekten av å være tospråklig skal det utføres en lignende studie i Storbritannia på engelsktalende enspråklige voksne.
Hvem kan delta i prosjektet?
For å være kvalifisert til å delta må du ha norsk som morsmål og ikke snakke andre språk hjemme (bortsett fra engelsk). Du bør ha rimelige ferdigheter i engelsk som andrespråk. Dette betyr at du kan lese og forstå den engelske informasjonen på denne nettsiden og at du kan føre en samtale på engelsk (selv om du kanskje snakker litt feil). Du må ha syn og hørsel som er normalt eller tilnærmet normalt, og du kan ikke ha noen diagnoser som innebærer kognitiv svikt eller språkforstyrrelser som dysleksi eller stamming.
Du kan delta hvis du er mellom 18 og 35 år (yngre aldersgruppe) eller mellom 60 og 85 år (eldre aldersgruppe). Vi er interessert i å måle effekten av økt fysisk aktivitet hos eldre voksne. Er du i den eldre aldersgruppen (60–85 år), bør du derfor ikke ha mer enn totalt 150 minutter med moderat fysisk aktivitet per uke, og du bør generelt ha god helse.
Det vil være en del fysiske møtetidspunkter i Kristiansand, som du må ha mulighet til å møte opp på.
Hva blir jeg bedt om å gjøre?
- A. Screening
Under det første besøket vil alle deltakerne først bli bedt om å signere et samtykkeskjema, slik at vi kan være sikre på at du ønsker å være med på forskningsprosjektet. Deretter blir du bedt om å fylle ut flere spørreskjemaer og tester: et språkprofilskjema, et generelt spørreskjema om helse og et spørreskjema om fysisk aktivitetsnivå.
Vi vil også be om legeattest fra våre eldre deltakere. Disse screeningmålingene gjør det mulig for oss å avgjøre om det er trygt for deg å delta i resten av studien. Eksklusjonskriterier for eldre i studien vår er: hjertesykdom, ukontrollert høyt blodtrykk, diabetes eller annen metabolsk sykdom, astma eller luftveissykdom, anemi, nåværende røyking, influensa den siste måneden, nevrologiske sykdommer som hindrer frivillige bevegelser. Du bør heller ikke allerede delta i spesifikke utholdenhetstreningsprogrammer eller studier.
- B. Hovedstudie og treningsprogram
Hvis du oppfyller kriteriene våre, vil vi invitere deg til å delta i hovedstudien. Hovedstudien består av flere testdager, som vi kan planlegge når det passer deg. I disse øktene blir du bedt om å gjøre noen oppgaver på datamaskin. For eksempel vil vi be deg om å lytte til setninger for å finne bestemte ord, eller vi vil vise deg bilder av gjenstander og be deg om å navngi objektene. Du skal gjøre disse oppgavene på både norsk og engelsk. Disse oppgavene tar inntil tre timer totalt å gjennomføre for den yngre aldersgruppen, som kun skal gjøre oppgavene en gang.
Eldre deltakere vil også bli invitert til å fullføre en treningstest for å bestemme din nåværende aerobe kapasitet (dvs. VO2max). Dette er en progressiv treningstest, som gjennomføres gående på en tredemølle der skråningen på tredemøllen økes trinnvis (f.eks. hvert 4. minutt) til du ikke kan fortsette. Data om pustefunksjon og hjerterytme registreres, og i tillegg tas det en blodprøve i fingeren for å måle laktatkonsentrasjon i blodet.
Treningstesten skal ikke vare i mer enn 30 minutter, inkludert en aktiv nedtrappingsperiode. Før du gjennomfører denne testen, ber vi deg om å unngå tung fysisk trening og alkohol i 24 timer. Du vil også bli bedt om å ikke spise mat inntil 2 timer før testen begynner. I tillegg til denne kondisjonstesten vil vi gjerne at du skal gjennomføre flere oppgaver som involverer fysisk funksjon. Dette kan for eksempel være test av håndstyrke, test av å reise seg og gå, test av å sitte og stå samt en balansetest og en test av fleksibiliteten i leddene. Disse testene viser oss hvordan treningsintervensjonen kan ha forbedret den generelle fysiske funksjonen din.
For eldre voksne vil det ta ca. 8 timer å fylle ut alle spørreskjemaer og gjennomføre datatester og kondisjonstest, fordelt på minst fire dager – både før og etter et seks måneders fysisk treningsprogram. Halvparten av de eldre voksne tilordnes tilfeldig til det fysiske treningsprogrammet (aktiv gruppe), mens den andre halvparten vil bli bedt om ikke å endre sitt vanlige aktivitetsmønster i samme seksmåneders periode (kontrollgruppen).
Det seks måneder lange treningsprogrammet har fokus på aerob utholdenhetstrening som består av et opplegg som du utfører hjemme. Vi gir deg treningsøkter på nettet som du kan utføre hjemme eller utendørs. Du vil bli bedt om å gjennomføre minst 3 økter per uke, og vi gir deg en pulsklokke og en aktivitetsklokke for å registrere både treningsøkter og generell fysisk aktivitet i løpet av denne seksmånedersperioden. En gang i måneden vil du møte testansvarlig som laster ned data fra pulsklokken. Hver treningsøkt registreres med pulsklokken. Både før prosjektstart, midt i prosjektet og etter at prosjektet er slutt, skal det generelle fysiske aktivitetsnivået måles med en aktivitetsklokke.
Hvis du tilordnes til kontrollgruppen, gir vi deg en aktivitetsmåler slik at vi kan måle det normale aktivitetsnivået ditt. Du vil derimot måtte vente med å få pulsklokken og tilgang til treningsøktene på nett. Dette vil du få utdelt etter at din seks måneder lange deltakelse i prosjektet er over.
Hvis du bestemmer deg for at du vil delta i denne studien, skal vi gå nærmere gjennom det som skal skje og du får mulighet til å stille spørsmål. Vi oppfordrer deg til å stille spørsmål både før og underveis.
Må jeg delta, og kan jeg trekke tilbake samtykke?
Det er frivillig å delta i prosjektet. Hvis du ønsker å delta, må du signere en samtykkeerklæring. Du kan trekke deg når som helst og uten grunn. Hvis du ønsker å trekke deg fra prosjektet, kan du også kreve at testene dine og helserelaterte personopplysninger blir slettet, med mindre de helserelaterte personopplysningene og testene allerede har blitt analysert eller brukt i vitenskapelige publikasjoner. Hvis du på et senere tidspunkt ønsker å trekke tilbake samtykke eller har spørsmål angående prosjektet, kan du kontakte Dr. Eunice Fernandes (eunice.fernandes@uia.no) eller professor Linda Wheeldon (linda.r.wheeldon@uia.no).
Kan jeg delta konfidensielt?
Alle helserelaterte personopplysninger som er registrert om deg, vil bare bli brukt som beskrevet i formålet med prosjektet. Du har krav på å få tilgang til informasjon som er registrert om deg, og du har rett til å be om at eventuelle feil i den registrerte informasjonen blir korrigert. Du har også rett til å få vite hvilke sikkerhetstiltak som er/blir iverksatt når helserelaterte personopplysninger behandles.
All informasjon vil bli behandlet anonymt, uten bruk av verken navn, fødselsnummer eller annen informasjon som kan identifisere deg. En kode knytter sammen deg og de helserelaterte personopplysningene dine via en identifikasjonsliste. Kun forskere på UiA på prosjektet som står oppført nedenfor, har tilgang til denne listen. Informasjon om deg blir anonymisert eller slettet fem år etter at prosjektet er avsluttet. Anonymiserte data blir lagret i minst 10 år etter at studien er avsluttet.
Får jeg kompensasjon for å delta?
Yngre deltakere som deltar på alle screeninger og tester vil få kompensasjon i form av et gavekort på 300 kr. Eldre deltakere i intervensjonsgruppen får kompensasjon i form av en hjertemonitor og elektroniske treningsressurser som er en del av intervensjonen. Eldre deltakere i kontrollgruppen får samme kompensasjon som intervensjonsgruppen, men etter at de har fullført andre fase av testingen (dvs. rett etter at du har fullført prosjektet). Hvis du trekker deg før eksperimentet starter, får du ingen kompensasjon. Hvis du trekker deg under selve eksperimentet, vil kompensasjonen være basert på hvor lenge du har deltatt. Hvis du trekker deg etter at du har deltatt, får dette ingen innvirkning på kompensasjonen.
Hva er de mulige fordelene ved å delta?
Ditt bidrag kan gi oss mer kunnskap om kognitive evner og språkbehandlingsevner, og om forholdet mellom disse og det å være i god fysisk form under aldring.
Hva er den potensielle risikoen ved å delta?
Moderat eller anstrengende trening medfører visse typer risiko. Vi mener det er viktig at du gjøres oppmerksom på disse, og hva vi gjør for å minimere dem:
- Følelse av tretthet og fysisk utmattelse – dette vil være kortvarig og avta i løpet av få minutter etter at treningen avsluttes.
- Besvimelse – ofte knyttet til fysisk utmattelse og ved plutselig stans i treningen, men dette kan reduseres med en nedtrappingsperiode umiddelbart etter at den formelle treningstesten er fullført, slik at du gradvis kommer tilbake til normal tilstand.
- Kardiovaskulære problemer (f.eks. hjerteinfarkt eller hjerteattakk) – det er liten risiko for dette, spesielt hos friske mennesker. Dessuten vil alle som er i risikogruppen, sannsynligvis vil bli ekskludert fra studien etter første screening. Vi vil også sørge for at du varmes opp og trapper ned på riktig måte i forbindelse med treningsøktene. En forsker eller trener med godkjent førstehjelpskurs vil alltid være til stede, og dersom det mot formodning skulle oppstå en medisinsk nødssituasjon, følger vi standardprotokoller for å sikre at det blir gitt nødvendig medisinsk hjelp umiddelbart. Medisinsk ekspertise er tilgjengelige på sykehuset. Institutt for idrettsvitenskap og kroppsøving ved Universitetet i Agder (der de fysiske kondisjonstestene foregår) ligger i nærheten av sykehuset.
Hva skjer med svarene jeg gir?
Resultatene kan gi publiserbar forskning som er av interesse for et bredere forskningsmiljø, og som kan føre til nye tilskuddssøknader og samarbeid. Dataene dine lagres anonymt. Du kan ikke identifiseres i noen rapporter eller publikasjoner.
Hvem organiserer forskningen?
Denne studien organiseres av Institutt for fremmedspråk og oversettelse og Institutt for idrettsvitenskap og kroppsøving ved Universitetet i Agder og har godkjenning fra den regionale komiteen for medisinsk og helsefaglig forskningsetikk (16.12.2020 ref: 163931) og Norsk senter for forskningsdata (referanse). I samsvar med EUs personvernforordning (GDPR) har behandlingsansvarlig [UiA] og prosjektleder [Linda Wheeldon] uavhengig av hverandre et ansvar for å sikre dine helserelaterte personopplysninger behandles på lovfestet grunnlag. NSD har vurdert at behandling av dine personopplysninger er i samsvar med EUs personvernforordning (GDPR), og vi behandler personopplysningene dine basert på ditt samtykke. Du har rett til å klage på behandlingen av dine helserelaterte personopplysninger til Datatilsynet.
Hva hvis noe går galt? Hvem kan jeg klage til?
Hvis du vil klage på behandlingen du har fått av et medlem av forskerteamet (se kontaktinformasjon nedenfor) eller på noe som har med studien å gjøre, kan du henvende deg til en av personene som er oppført under neste spørsmål. Skulle du mot formodning oppleve å bli skadet eller få skader på eiendeler som følge av at du deltar i denne studien, vil universitetet dekke skader som oppstår på grunn av feil i utformingen av studien.
Hvor kan jeg finne mer informasjon om prosjektet?
Denne forskningen er finansiert av Norges forskningsråd og ledes av et team av akademikere ved Universitetet i Agder: Professor Linda Wheeldon (linda.r.wheeldon@uia.no), professor Allison Wetterlin (Allison.wetterlin@uia.no), Dr. Hilde Lohne- Seiler (hilde.l.seiler@uia.no), og professor Sveinung Berntsen Stølevik (sveinung.berntsen@uia.no), og ved University of Birmingham (Dr. Katrien Segaert: k.segaert@bham .ac.uk; Dr. Sam Lucas: (sjelucas@bham.ac.uk) og Dr. Foyzul Rahman (F.Rahman@bham.ac.uk). Studien ved UiA er drevet av postdoktor Eunice Fernandes (eunice.fernandes@uia.no) og PHD-student Sindre H. Fosstveit (sindre.fosstveit@uia.no). Ta kontakt med dem hvis du har spørsmål om studien. Du kan også ta kontakt med UiAs personvernombud (ina.danielsen@uia.no) hvis du har spørsmål om hvordan dine helserelaterte personopplysninger brukes i forskningsprosjektet.
Ta kontakt med et hvilket som helst medlem av teamet hvis du har spørsmål om studien.