Influence of aerobic exercise on the cognitive and social functions of elderly patients with schizophrenia

Table 1 Comparison of baseline characteristics of patients, mean ± SD/n (%)

Variables	Total (n = 158)	Control group (n = 72)	Observation group (n = 86)	Statistic	P value
Age (years)	66.93 ± 3.66	67.11 ± 3.71	66.78 ± 3.63	t = 0.57	0.572
Disease duration (years)	7.39 ± 4.38	7.17 ± 4.51	7.58 ± 4.29	t = -0.59	0.555
Chlorpromazine equivalent (mg/day)	309.99 ± 23.89	311.74 ± 25.16	308.53 ± 22.81	t = 0.84	0.402
Sex				χ2 = 0.02	0.887
Female	89 (56.33)	41 (56.94)	48 (55.81)
Male	69 (43.67)	31 (43.06)	38 (44.19)
Degree of education				χ2 = 0.07	0.963
Primary school and below	64 (40.51)	30 (41.67)	34 (39.53)
Junior to senior high school	74 (46.84)	33 (45.83)	41 (47.67)
Senior high school and above	20 (12.66)	9 (12.50)	11 (12.79)
Marital status				χ2 = 0.49	0.483
Married	121 (76.58)	57 (79.17)	64 (74.42)
Unmarried/divorced/widowed	37 (23.42)	15 (20.83)	22 (25.58)
Family history				χ2 = 0.42	0.518
No	141 (89.24)	63 (87.50)	78 (90.70)
Yes	17 (10.76)	9 (12.50)	8 (9.30)

Table 2 Comparison of Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale scores pre- and post-treatment, mean ± SD

Variable	Group	Control group (n = 72)	Observation group (n = 86)	t value	P value
Total score	Pre-treatment	81.61 ± 7.29	81.29 ± 6.26	0.30	0.767
	Post-treatment	68.28 ± 5.32c	63.49 ± 4.84c	5.92	< 0.001
Positive	Pre-treatment	19.15 ± 2.68	19.55 ± 2.17	-1.02	0.309
	Post-treatment	16.64 ± 2.27c	15.83 ± 2.04c	2.37	0.019
Negative	Pre-treatment	18.79 ± 2.58	19.02 ± 2.16	-0.61	0.540
	Post-treatment	15.46 ± 2.30c	13.09 ± 1.86c	7.14	< 0.001
General	Pre-treatment	43.67 ± 5.80	42.72 ± 5.29	1.07	0.286
	Post-treatment	36.18 ± 4.57c	34.57 ± 4.29c	2.28	0.024

^cP < 0.001 vs pre-treatment in the same group.

Table 3 Comparison of cognitive function pre- and post-treatment, mean ± SD

Variable	Group	Control group (n = 72)	Observation group (n = 86)	t value	P value
Trail Making Test-A	Pre-treatment	77.53 ± 29.47	81.24 ± 25.58	-0.85	0.397
	Post-treatment	61.94 ± 10.08c	54.68 ± 11.27c	4.22	< 0.001
Symbol coding	Pre-treatment	29.22 ± 11.44	28.59 ± 12.85	0.32	0.748
	Post-treatment	30.33 ± 9.15	33.38 ± 7.37a	-2.28	0.024
Hopkins	Pre-treatment	15.93 ± 5.71	15.38 ± 5.28	0.62	0.533
	Post-treatment	17.12 ± 4.49	19.26 ± 4.29c	-3.04	0.003
Spatial span	Pre-treatment	17.12 ± 3.68	17.56 ± 3.39	-0.77	0.443
	Post-treatment	18.62 ± 3.15a	19.78 ± 3.20c	-2.27	0.024
Mazes	Pre-treatment	7.44 ± 3.13	7.63 ± 2.82	-0.39	0.699
	Post-treatment	8.28 ± 2.74	10.53 ± 2.37c	-5.55	< 0.001
Visuospatial Memory	Pre-treatment	13.92 ± 3.17	13.58 ± 3.78	0.60	0.552
	Post-treatment	15.33 ± 3.03a	17.16 ± 2.88c	-3.88	< 0.001
Verbal fluence	Pre-treatment	16.90 ± 4.54	16.52 ± 5.11	0.49	0.625
	Post-treatment	17.54 ± 4.70	19.37 ± 4.42c	-2.52	0.013

^aP < 0.05 vs pre-treatment in the same group.

^cP < 0.001 vs pre-treatment in the same group.

Table 4 Comparison of social functions pre- and post-treatment, mean ± SD

Variable	Group	Control group (n = 72)	Observation group (n = 86)	t value	P value
Activities of daily living	Pre-treatment	9.36 ± 2.65	9.20 ± 3.14	0.35	0.727
	Post-treatment	7.51 ± 2.30c	6.41 ± 2.28c	3.03	0.003
Occupational therapy performance	Pre-treatment	11.31 ± 3.28	11.37 ± 3.43	-0.12	0.902
	Post-treatment	8.33 ± 2.66c	7.29 ± 2.77c	2.40	0.018
Social interaction	Pre-treatment	7.92 ± 2.93	8.27 ± 2.62	-0.79	0.428
	Post-treatment	4.85 ± 1.55c	3.85 ± 1.29c	4.42	< 0.001
Interests/concerns	Pre-treatment	11.01 ± 3.27	10.90 ± 2.88	0.24	0.809
	Post-treatment	9.11 ± 2.71c	8.10 ± 2.62c	2.37	0.019
Hygiene management	Pre-treatment	6.43 ± 2.37	6.73 ± 2.46	-0.78	0.436
	Post-treatment	4.08 ± 1.46c	3.67 ± 1.61c	1.66	0.100
Total score	Pre-treatment	46.03 ± 6.97	46.47 ± 6.51	-0.41	0.684
	Post-treatment	33.89 ± 4.66c	29.40 ± 4.94c	5.84	< 0.001

^cP < 0.001 vs pre-treatment in the same group.

Table 5 Comparison of metabolic indicators, mean ± SD

Variable	Group	Control group (n = 72)	Observation group (n = 86)	t value	P value
BMI	Pre-treatment	26.67 ± 2.70	26.39 ± 3.04	0.61	0.542
	Post-treatment	26.82 ± 2.49	25.41 ± 2.53a	3.55	< 0.001
FBG	Pre-treatment	5.24 ± 1.37	5.25 ± 1.43	-0.04	0.965
	Post-treatment	5.09 ± 1.16	4.97 ± 1.28	0.61	0.541

^aP < 0.05 vs pre-treatment in the same group.

BMI: Body mass index; FBG: Fasting blood glucose.

Table 6 Influence of aerobic exercise on rehabilitation outcomes

Variables	Univariate			Multivariate1
	β (95%CI)	t	P value	β (95%CI)	t	P value
Aerobic exercise
No	0.00 (reference)			0.00 (reference)
Yes	-4.49 (-6.00 to -2.99)	-5.84	< 0.001	-4.57 (-6.08 to -3.05)	-5.90	< 0.001

¹Adjusted for age, sex, disease duration, and chlorpromazine equivalent.

CI: Confidence interval.