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Status unknownNCT02648945Updated Feb 9, 2016

Effects of Low and High Intensity Exercise in Improving Working Memory Among Students With Anxiety Symptoms

An interventional study of Exercise in Aerobic Exercise, sponsored by Manisha Parai. Status unknown at 1 site in Malaysia. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 25 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2016-02-09.

Sponsored by Manisha Parai · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

The sponsor has not verified this record recently (last verified Feb 2016), so the status shown — last known as Recruiting — may be out of date.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
30
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 25 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Anxiety levels among the younger generation especially students have been increasing drastically in recent years. This severely affects a student's academics as previous studies have shown a strong correlation between high anxiety levels and poor working memory. Working memory, also known as short term memory is an important component in studying as it aids in holding important information needed to understand following information for a short period of time. This concerning phenomenon has drawn the attention of researchers to find solutions to this issue where recent studies have found physical exercise to contribute in the improvement of cognition which also includes working memory. Hence, the aim of this study is to compare the effects of low and high intensity exercises on working memory among students with high anxiety levels. Thirty female undergraduate students from UTAR with relatively high levels of anxiety will be conveniently sampled using Beck Anxiety Inventory. Participants will then be randomly allocated into 2 groups to undergo low and high intensity exercise on a treadmill according to Balke's Protocol. 2 memory assessments involving Verbal Memory Task will be conducted for each participant before and after the intervention.

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Conditions studied

  • Aerobic Exercise
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In context

Lead sponsor

Manisha Parai is the lead sponsor of 3 studies on the registry; none are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 25 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

  • Female students (Age group: 18-25 years)
  • Participants with mild to severe anxiety levels (Score of >8)

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Participants with Cardiorespiratory problems (e.g. Asthma, Congestive heart disorders) or severe Musculoskeletal problems that prevent them from carrying out any physical exercise or advised by personal physician not to.
  • Participants that have had a recent head injury (recent 5 years)
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Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Single (Participant)
Enrollment
30 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Active comparator
    high intensity exercise

    high intensity exercise on a treadmill according to Balke's Protocol. high intensity of exercises for each group of 15 participants were set at 80-85% VO2 max (Schneider, S., et al., 2009). To determine the targeted HR for low and high intensity aerobic exercise for each participant, the needed VO2 max percentages were subbed into the Swain equation as follows: %VO2 max = (%HRmax - 37)/0.64 Exercise HR/HRmax = %HRmax After rearrangement, it will be: %HRmax = %VO2 max x 0.64 + 37 Exercise HR = %HRmax x HRmax During the experimental session, each participant performed physical exercise training on the treadmill according to Balke's Protocol. The reliability of this protocol was tested by Leddy, et. al. (2011).

    Other: Exercise

  • Active comparator
    low intensity exercise

    low intensity exercise on a treadmill according to Balke's Protocol. low intensity of exercises for each group of 15 participants were set at 50-55% VO2 max (Schneider, S., et al., 2009). To determine the targeted HR for low and high intensity aerobic exercise for each participant, the needed VO2 max percentages were subbed into the Swain equation as follows: %VO2 max = (%HRmax - 37)/0.64 Exercise HR/HRmax = %HRmax After rearrangement, it will be: %HRmax = %VO2 max x 0.64 + 37 Exercise HR = %HRmax x HRmax During the experimental session, each participant performed physical exercise training on the treadmill according to Balke's Protocol. The reliability of this protocol was tested by Leddy, et. al. (2011).

    Other: Exercise

Interventions

  • OtherExercise

    first, Verbal Memory task was completed by each participant. Participant then started walking on the treadmill at either a speed of 3.0 mph (4.8 km/h) for sedentary individuals or 3.5 mph (5.6 km/h) for active individuals with grade 0% (Hanson, 1984). This was followed by an increase in grade of 2% for every 2 mins with the speed remaining constant until targeted HR was reached. A heart rate (HR) monitor (POLAR®) was used to measure HR throughout the test and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) was done at the end of every 2 min stage. Exercise was stopped as soon as participant reaches targeted HR or requests to stop because of fatigue or any discomfort. Participant was then given time to cool down until HR reached or fell below 120 bpm and was allowed to take a break for approximately 1 min before proceeding with the second set of Verbal Memory Task. Upon completing the memory test, the participant was allowed to leave

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What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Change in Verbal Memory Task

    Immediate effect of low and high intensity exercise

    Time frame: baseline and 1 minutes

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Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
  • Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman
    Kajang, Selangor 43000, Malaysia
    • Manisha Parai, MPT · Contact · 0173128276
    Recruiting
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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Feb 9, 2016, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT02648945
Lead sponsor
Manisha Parai
Collaborators
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman
Responsible party
Manisha Parai (Lecturer, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman) — Sponsor-investigator
First posted
Jan 7, 2016
Start date
Nov 2015
Primary completion
Feb 2016
Last update
Feb 9, 2016

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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This study is status unknown, as verified in Feb 2016. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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