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RecruitingNCT05935241Updated Apr 13, 2026

mPATH for Low-income Older Adults

An interventional study of mPATH and Attention Control in Sedentary Time, Insomnia and Cognitive Decline, sponsored by Johns Hopkins University. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 65 Years and older, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-04-13.

Sponsored by Johns Hopkins University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention

From the registry’s dates

  • Started May 2024; still recruiting 2 years 4 months later.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
176
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
65 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Although empirical research suggests that physical activity interventions benefit cognition and sleep in older adults in general, the possible benefit of physical activity is understudied in low-income older adults. The study aims to test the immediate and sustaining efficacy of an mHealth-facilitated Physical Activity Toward Health (mPATH) intervention on cognitive function and sleep in low-income older adults.

Read the detailed description

Low-income older adults (LIOA) are a population at higher risk to develop Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) and sleep disturbances. Although empirical research suggests that physical activity interventions benefit cognition and sleep in older adults in general, the possible benefit of physical activity is understudied in LIOA. The growing wearable device and mobile Health (mHealth) provide an innovative approach to deliver individually tailored physical activity interventions at home with flexible schedules to overcome barriers to physical activity in LIOA. In addition, limited research has examined if physical activity interventions impact the individual's Amyloid/Tau/ Neurodegeneration (ATN) Alzheimer's disease biological state and whether physical activity may promote cognition through impacting sleep and AD pathology. This randomized controlled trial is designed to examine the immediate and sustaining efficacy of an mHealth-facilitated Physical Activity Toward Health (mPATH) intervention on cognitive function and sleep in LIOA. mPATH is a personalized physical activity intervention that includes personalized physical activity plans and training sessions, exercise at home by following personalized exercise videos, and biweekly phone coaching over 24 weeks, supported by wearable devices-enabled mHealth strategies. mHealth strategies and exercise videos will be used to support participant's physical activity during 6-12months.

02

Conditions studied

  • Sedentary Time
  • Insomnia
  • Cognitive Decline

Keywords

  • physical activity
  • memory
  • sleep
03

In context

Sedentary Behavior

332 studies on the registry are indexed under Sedentary Behavior; 155 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 176 is above the median of 70 across 287 interventional studies indexed under Sedentary Behavior.

Browse Sedentary Behavior studies →

Lead sponsor

Johns Hopkins University is the lead sponsor of 1,783 studies on the registry; 313 are open to participants now.

Of its 203 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 140 (69%) have results posted.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
65 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

  • self-reported difficulty of sleep
  • lack of physical activity/exercise
  • low household income
  • capacity for moderate intensity exercise

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • untreated sleep apnea
  • severe depression or anxiety
  • dementia
  • history of neurologic or psychiatric disorders, neurodevelopmental impairment, traumatic brain injury
  • current enrollment in another clinical trial
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Prevention
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Single (Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
176 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    mPATH

    mPATH is a personalized physical activity intervention that includes personalized physical activity plans and training sessions, exercise at home by following personalized exercise videos, and biweekly phone coaching over 24 weeks, supported by wearable devices-enabled mHealth strategies. mHealth strategies and exercise videos will be used to support participant's physical activity during 6-12months

    Behavioral: mPATH

  • Active comparator
    Education and Social control

    This attention control group is designed to match the intervention for mPATH's staff-subject interaction duration through monthly home visits in the first 6 months

    Other: Attention Control

Interventions

  • BehavioralmPATH

    The active mPATH intervention takes 6 months including (1) The physical activity education session , (2)mHealth learning and practice; (3)Personalized physical activity training, plan, and biweekly phone calls over 24 weeks (4) mHealth strategies to encourage physical activity and facilitate intervention adherence (5) (5) mPATH during 6-12 months: mPATH will be delivered mainly in 24 weeks before the 6-month data collection. During 6-12 months, the participants will have access to study mHealth strategies, and exercise videos. No additional physical activity training by staff will be supported.

  • OtherAttention Control

    A registered nurse from the study team will provide 6 monthly home visit (approximately 55-60 minutes each) to provide physical activity education, physical activity safety at home evaluation, feedback, and social activity (meaningful or enjoyable activities as identified by the participants, such as playing cards, doing arts and crafts, listening to music, talking about life history, etc.).

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Change in episodic memory as assessed by the Cogstate

    Episodic memory will be measured by computerized cognitive batteries using Cogstate

    Time frame: Baseline, 6 months, 12 months

Secondary outcomes

  1. Change in Sleep efficiency as assessed by actigraphy

    sleep efficiency will be measured by 7-day actigraph (reported as a percentage)

    Time frame: Baseline, 6 months, 12 months

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
  • The Johns Hopkins University, School of Nursing
    Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
    • Junxin Li · Contact · 410-502-2608
    • Julianna Kruemmel · Contact · jkruemm1@jh.edu · 4436927169
    • Junxin Li · Principal investigator
    Recruiting
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Yes — working on it

Supporting information: Study protocol, Icf, Csr

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Apr 13, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05935241
Lead sponsor
Johns Hopkins University
Collaborators
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Jul 7, 2023
Start date
May 30, 2024
Primary completion
May 31, 2029 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 31, 2029 (estimated)
Last update
Apr 13, 2026

Study contacts

Junxin Li
Contact
junxin.li@jhu.edu
4105022608
Julianna Kruemmel
Contact
jkruemm1@jh.edu
443-692-7169
Junxin Li
principal investigator · Johns Hopkins University
Youngmin Cho, PhD
study director · Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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