The Warrior Wellness Study: A Randomized Controlled Exercise Trial for Older Veterans with PTSD

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects up to 30% of military veterans. Older veterans, many of whom have lived with PTSD symptoms for several decades, report a number of negative health outcomes. Despite the demonstrated benefits of regular exercise on physical and psychological health, no studies have explored the effect of exercise in older veterans with PTSD. This article describes the development, design, and implementation of the Warrior Wellness exercise pilot study for older veterans with PTSD. Veterans ≥60 yr old with a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition diagnosis of PTSD will be recruited and randomized to (a) Warrior Wellness, a 12-wk supervised, facility-based exercise intervention, or (b) usual care for 12 wk. Warrior Wellness is a theory- and evidence-based behavioral intervention that involves three sessions per week of multicomponent exercise training that targets strength, endurance, balance, and flexibility. Warrior Wellness focuses on satisfaction with outcomes, self-efficacy, self-monitoring, and autonomy. Factors associated with program adherence, defined as the number of sessions attended during the 12 wk, will be explored. Primary outcomes include PTSD symptoms and cardiovascular endurance, assessed at baseline and 12 wk. Compared with those in usual care, it is hypothesized that those in the Warrior Wellness condition will improve on these efficacy outcomes. The Warrior Wellness study will provide evidence on whether a short-term exercise intervention is feasible, acceptable, and effective among older veterans with PTSD, and explore factors associated with program adherence. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02295995