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Exercise as an Intervention to Reduce Study-Related Fatigue among University Students: A Two-Arm Parallel Randomized Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND: Many university students experience high levels of study-related fatigue. This high prevalence, and the negative impact of fatigue on health and academic performance, call for prevention and reduction of these symptoms. The primary aim of the current study was to investigate to what exte...

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Autores principales: de Vries, Juriena D., van Hooff, Madelon L. M., Geurts, Sabine A. E., Kompier, Michiel A. J.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4816334/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27031610
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0152137
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author de Vries, Juriena D.
van Hooff, Madelon L. M.
Geurts, Sabine A. E.
Kompier, Michiel A. J.
author_facet de Vries, Juriena D.
van Hooff, Madelon L. M.
Geurts, Sabine A. E.
Kompier, Michiel A. J.
author_sort de Vries, Juriena D.
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Many university students experience high levels of study-related fatigue. This high prevalence, and the negative impact of fatigue on health and academic performance, call for prevention and reduction of these symptoms. The primary aim of the current study was to investigate to what extent an exercise intervention is effective in reducing three indicators of study-related fatigue (emotional exhaustion, overall fatigue, and need for recovery). Effects of exercise on secondary outcomes (sleep quality, self-efficacy, physical fitness, and cognitive functioning) were also investigated. METHODS: Participants were students with high levels of study-related fatigue, currently not exercising or receiving other psychological or pharmacological treatments, and with no medical cause of fatigue. They were randomly assigned to either a six-week exercise intervention (low-intensity running three times a week, n = 49) or wait list (no intervention, n = 48). All participants were measured before the intervention (T0), and immediately after the intervention (T1). Exercisers were also investigated 4 weeks (T2) and 12 weeks (T3) after the intervention. RESULTS: Participants in the exercise condition showed a larger decrease in two of the three indicators of study-related fatigue (i.e., overall fatigue and need for recovery) as compared to controls. Additionally, sleep quality and some indicators of cognitive functioning improved more among exercisers than among controls. No effects were found for self-efficacy, and physical fitness. The initial effects of the exercise intervention lasted at follow-up (T2 and T3). At 12-week follow up (T3), 80% of participants in the exercise condition still engaged in regular exercise, and further enhancements were seen for emotional exhaustion, overall fatigue, and sleep quality. CONCLUSIONS: These results underline the value of low-intensity exercise for university students with high levels of study-related fatigue. The follow-up effects that were found in this study imply that the intervention has the potential to promote regular exercise and accompanying beneficial effects in the longer run. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Netherlands Trial Register NTR4412
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spelling pubmed-48163342016-04-14 Exercise as an Intervention to Reduce Study-Related Fatigue among University Students: A Two-Arm Parallel Randomized Controlled Trial de Vries, Juriena D. van Hooff, Madelon L. M. Geurts, Sabine A. E. Kompier, Michiel A. J. PLoS One Research Article BACKGROUND: Many university students experience high levels of study-related fatigue. This high prevalence, and the negative impact of fatigue on health and academic performance, call for prevention and reduction of these symptoms. The primary aim of the current study was to investigate to what extent an exercise intervention is effective in reducing three indicators of study-related fatigue (emotional exhaustion, overall fatigue, and need for recovery). Effects of exercise on secondary outcomes (sleep quality, self-efficacy, physical fitness, and cognitive functioning) were also investigated. METHODS: Participants were students with high levels of study-related fatigue, currently not exercising or receiving other psychological or pharmacological treatments, and with no medical cause of fatigue. They were randomly assigned to either a six-week exercise intervention (low-intensity running three times a week, n = 49) or wait list (no intervention, n = 48). All participants were measured before the intervention (T0), and immediately after the intervention (T1). Exercisers were also investigated 4 weeks (T2) and 12 weeks (T3) after the intervention. RESULTS: Participants in the exercise condition showed a larger decrease in two of the three indicators of study-related fatigue (i.e., overall fatigue and need for recovery) as compared to controls. Additionally, sleep quality and some indicators of cognitive functioning improved more among exercisers than among controls. No effects were found for self-efficacy, and physical fitness. The initial effects of the exercise intervention lasted at follow-up (T2 and T3). At 12-week follow up (T3), 80% of participants in the exercise condition still engaged in regular exercise, and further enhancements were seen for emotional exhaustion, overall fatigue, and sleep quality. CONCLUSIONS: These results underline the value of low-intensity exercise for university students with high levels of study-related fatigue. The follow-up effects that were found in this study imply that the intervention has the potential to promote regular exercise and accompanying beneficial effects in the longer run. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Netherlands Trial Register NTR4412 Public Library of Science 2016-03-31 /pmc/articles/PMC4816334/ /pubmed/27031610 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0152137 Text en © 2016 de Vries et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
de Vries, Juriena D.
van Hooff, Madelon L. M.
Geurts, Sabine A. E.
Kompier, Michiel A. J.
Exercise as an Intervention to Reduce Study-Related Fatigue among University Students: A Two-Arm Parallel Randomized Controlled Trial
title Exercise as an Intervention to Reduce Study-Related Fatigue among University Students: A Two-Arm Parallel Randomized Controlled Trial
title_full Exercise as an Intervention to Reduce Study-Related Fatigue among University Students: A Two-Arm Parallel Randomized Controlled Trial
title_fullStr Exercise as an Intervention to Reduce Study-Related Fatigue among University Students: A Two-Arm Parallel Randomized Controlled Trial
title_full_unstemmed Exercise as an Intervention to Reduce Study-Related Fatigue among University Students: A Two-Arm Parallel Randomized Controlled Trial
title_short Exercise as an Intervention to Reduce Study-Related Fatigue among University Students: A Two-Arm Parallel Randomized Controlled Trial
title_sort exercise as an intervention to reduce study-related fatigue among university students: a two-arm parallel randomized controlled trial
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4816334/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27031610
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0152137
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