Effects of Square-stepping Exercise on Frailty and Cognitive Function in Elderly With Frailty and MCI

This is a single-blinded, randomized controlled trail with pre- and post-measurements. The inclusion criteria are: (1) age between 65 to 90 years old, (2) the presence of at least one of the 5 physical characteristics defined by Fried, (3) with mini-mental state examination (MMSE) score≧24 and Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA) score \< 26, and (4) ability to walk independently for 1 min without assistive devices. The exclusion criteria are: unstable physical condition, any neurological, psychiatric disorder, or diagnosed with learning disability which may affect participation in this study. Twenty-eight elderly will be recruited, and randomly assigned to one of two groups: square-stepping exercise (SSE) group (n=14) or control group (n=14). The intervention for both group will be 50 minutes per session, 3 sessions per week for 8 weeks. The primary outcomes include frailty status indicated by Fried frailty criteria, and global cognitive function indicated by MoCA score. Secondary outcomes include frailty and MCI reverse rate, attention and memory, executive function, physical performance, and brain activation.