Exercise Therapy in Mental Disorders-study

Background: Patients with severe mental disorders (SMD), including schizophrenia spectrum and bipolar disorders, frequently experience suboptimal treatment effectiveness resulting in disabling residual symptoms and cognitive challenges, and have elevated mortality risk amounting to 15-20 years of shortened life expectancy compared to the general population.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major contributor in this regard. Exercise in general improves cognitive functioning, negative symptoms, quality of life, and reduces the risk of CVD. High intensity training (HIT) has been shown to be feasible for persons with SMD, but attrition and noncompliance are substantial and likely to limit the effectiveness of HIT. A less strenuous HIT could increase adherence to the intervention, which might compensate for a slightly lower efficacy compared to standard HIT. Our study will compare standard 4x4-min HIT to a 4-min single-bout HIT session, as well as explore exercise effects on basic processes in the body. Methods: Patients with schizophrenia spectrum and bipolar disorders are eligible for participation, and those included will be randomized to 26 weeks of either 1) Standard 4 x 4 min HIT at treadmill, or 2) Short 1 x 4 min HIT at treadmill. To reduce dropout, the intervention will usually be delivered in group format, and conducted under the supervision of a physical therapist in collaboration with a postdoctor. The research group has a stable staff with research nurses, biostatisticians and researchers that will secure the dayto- day conductance of the project, including psychometric assessments, drawing of and biobanking of blood, as well as data collection and storing. Measures: Mental and cognitive symptoms, quality of life, motivation, Peak oxygen uptake (V

Inclusion criteria

• ICD-10 schizophrenia-spectrum disorder (F2)
• ICD-10 bipolar disorder (F3)
• Capacity to provide informed consent.

Exclusion criteria

• Contra-indication for exercise training and testing according to the American College of Sports Medicine specifications
• Life threatening or terminal medical conditions
• Not able to carry out intervention or test procedures
• Current pregnancy
• Mothers less than 6 months post-partum.