Structured Physical Training with and Without Cognitive Support for Adults with ADHD
Key facts
- Who runs it
- Region Örebro County
- Where
- Sweden1 site in 1 countryChoose a country to see its sites
- Trial code
- Status
- Active, not recruiting
- People taking part
- 75 people, planned
- Started
- 15 Feb 2021
- Expected to end
- 31 Dec 2026
- Type of study
- Interventional, 3 groupsOne group gets an existing treatment, for comparison.
- Treatments tested
- Physical training
- Physical training combined with cognitive support.
- Record updated
- 11 March 2025
Who can take part
- Age
- 18 years to 65 years
- Sex
- Women and men
- Healthy volunteers
- Cannot take part
The registry criteria, word for word
Show all 9 criteriaShow less
Who can take part
- Diagnosed with ADHD
Who cannot take part
- Bipolar disorder
- Ongoing depression with points on MADRS-S over 21
- Suicidality
- Psychosis
- Ongoing addiction
- Reported threatening behavior
- Severe autism that makes group participation impossible
- Inability to read and understand the Swedish language
This trial has no sites in United States.
It has sites in one country. Choose a country to see its sites.
About the trial
What the trial wants to find out
Studies in children and adolescents with Attention-Deficit-Hyperactivity-Disorder (ADHD) have shown that physical exercise can improve the core symptoms of ADHD; inattention and hyperactivity. For adults, the evidence is deficient and there is a great need to investigate whether adults have the same effect on ADHD symptoms of physical exercise, as children and young people have. Adults with ADHD often have a sedentary lifestyle and suffer from obesity and have sleep problems. In a normal population, these problems have been shown to be affectable with physical exercise. START (Support in Activity, Movement and Exercise) is a randomized controlled intervention study where physical exercise is given for 12 weeks, with or without cognitive support. The effect is measured with rating scales as well as cognitive and physical tests. The purpose is to investigate whether START works as a treatment for ADHD in terms of ADHD symptoms and disability, and what impact the intervention has on mental health, physical condition and activity level, body awareness and everyday functioning.
Read full original descriptionShow less
Outcome measures are registered within 3 weeks before and after the end of treatment, after 6 months and 12 months. The randomization takes place in three groups; physical exercise (i), physical exercise and extra cognitive support (ii), and control group on waiting list (iii).
The 3 groups in the trial
- Physical trainingTreatment being tested
Medium-high-intensity physical training 3 times a week, 60 min / time for 12 weeks.
- Physical training combined with cognitive supportExisting treatment, for comparison
Medium-high-intensity physical training 3 times a week, 60 min / time for 12 weeks. The cognitive support consists of person centred individual occupational therapy.
- Control groupNo study treatment, for comparison
The control group receive no intervention.
Data and sources
- Registry record
- Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Official title
- Support in Activity, Movement and Exercise-for Adults with ADHD. a Randomized Controlled Trial Intervention Study with 12 Weeks of Physical Training with and Without Cognitive Support.
- Publications
- Physical exercise as add-on treatment in adults with ADHD - the START study: a randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in psychiatry, 2025
- Record updated
- 11 March 2025