Brisk walking versus talk therapy for long-term insomnia in older adults
Compares brisk walking with cognitive behavioral therapy for chronic insomnia in older adults.
Key facts
- Who runs it
- Chinese University of Hong Kong
- Where
- Hong Kong, Hong KongSee the site
- Trial code
- Registry title
- Brisk Walking Training Compared with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for the Treatment of Chronic Primary Insomnia in People Aged 60 Years or Above: a Randomized, Partially Blinded, Non-inferiority Trial
- Status
- Not yet recruiting
- People taking part
- 92 people, planned
- Started
- 10 Mar 2025
- Planned end
- 30 Sept 2026
- Type of study
- Interventional, 2 groupsOne group gets an existing treatment, for comparison.
- Treatments tested
- Brisk walking
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia
- Record updated
- 27 February 2025
Who can take part
AI summary
From the trial's eligibility criteria. Machine-read from the registry text on this page, so it can be wrong. The registry text below and the trial team decide who can take part.
The trial is looking for Chinese adults aged 60 or older in Hong Kong who have long-lasting primary insomnia. It compares brisk walking training with cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I).
- Age
- 60 years or older
- Sex
- All sexes
- Disease stage
- Chronic primary insomnia. Score of 10 or more on the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). Trouble falling asleep, trouble staying asleep, or waking early and not getting back to sleep, on 3 or more days a week.
- Earlier treatment
- You cannot join if you now get or plan to get CBT-I during the study. You cannot join if you already do moderate exercise such as brisk walking or Tai Chi 3 or more times a week, 30 minutes or more each time.
Main reasons for not taking part
- Score of 1 or more on the Chinese Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PAR-Q), a check of whether exercise is safe
- Score of 16 or less on a telephone memory and thinking test (T-CMMSE)
- Night shift work that you cannot or will not stop
- Major depression, anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder or psychosis; mild depression or anxiety is allowed
- Taking antidepressant or antipsychotic medicine, or serious diseases that affect sleep or prevent walking or therapy (for example cancer, autoimmune diseases)
The registry criteria, word for word
Show all 15 criteriaShow less
Who can take part
- Aged ≥60 years
- Ethnic Chinese; able to read, write and speak Cantonese
- Having a Hong Kong ID
- Willing to wear an accelerometer on the wrist for a week to assess sleep parameters at T0, T1, and T2
- Score ≥10 in the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) (presence of insomnia)
- Experiencing any one of the following symptoms for ≥3 days per week; Difficulty initiating sleep; OR; Difficulty maintaining sleep; OR; Early-morning awakening with inability to return to sleep
Who cannot take part
- Currently receiving or scheduled to receive CBT-I during the study period
- Having a diagnosis of a major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders or other severe mental disorder (bipolar disorders, psychosis). Those with mild depression or anxiety disorders will not be excluded
- Use of antidepressant or antipsychotic medication or under treatment of other serious diseases (e.g., cancer chemotherapy) known to affect sleep
- Presence of any serious chronic diseases which affect sleep (e.g., cancer, autoimmune diseases)
- Having a serious somatic condition preventing the participation of brisk walking training/CBT-I
- Score ≥1 in the Chinese version of the Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PAR-Q)
- Currently regularly practicing a moderate-intensity PA program such as brisk walking or Tai Chi (≥3 times a week, ≥30 minutes/session)
- Score ≤16 in the validated telephone version of the Cantonese Mini-Mental State Examination (T-CMMSE)
- Working nightshifts and unable/unwilling to discontinue such work pattern
Where in Hong Kong
- The Chinese University of Hong KongHong Kong, Hong KongContact: Zixin Wang, PhDNot yet recruiting
About the trial
What the trial wants to find out
This study is a single-blinded (outcome assessor) and parallel-group non-inferiority RCT. Chinese older adults aged ≥60 years with chronic primary insomnia will be randomized evenly (1:1) to either the brisk walking training group or the CBT-I group. Participants in the brisk walking training group receive an eight-week instructor-led interval brisk walking training (40 minutes/session, three sessions/week). Participants in the CBT-I group receive standard-of-care group-based eight-session CBT-I (one session/week). Self-reported and objective sleep outcomes are measured at baseline (T0), after completion of the intervention (T1), and six (T2), and 12 months after T1 (T3).
The 2 groups in the trial
- Brisk walking groupTreatment being tested
Participants in the brisk walking training group receive an eight-week instructor-led interval brisk walking training (40 minutes/session, three sessions/week).
Treatment: Brisk walking
- CBT-I groupExisting treatment, for comparison
Participants in the CBT-I group receive standard-of-care group-based eight-session CBT-I (one session/week).
Treatment: Cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Contact the study team: see the registry record → Contacts and Locations
Print a page for my doctorData and sources
- Registry record
- Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Official title
- Brisk Walking Training Compared with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for the Treatment of Chronic Primary Insomnia in People Aged 60 Years or Above: a Randomized, Partially Blinded, Non-inferiority Trial
- Plain-language title
- Brisk walking versus talk therapy for long-term insomnia in older adultsGenerated from the registry record. The registry title is the official one.
- AI summary
- From the trial's eligibility criteria. Read by machine on 14 November 2026.
- Record updated
- 27 February 2025