NCT06584110: BUDPA

Buddy-Up Dyadic Physical Activity Program for Persons With Dementia and Family Caregivers

Recruiting now NA Last updated 6 April 2026

What this trial tests

NA trial testing Buddy-Up Dyadic Physical Activity (BUDPA) program in Cognitive Impairment, Mild in 236 participants. Currently enrolling.

Timeline

1 October 2024

Primary endpoint
30 September 2026

30 March 2027

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	The University of Hong Kong
Phase	NA
Status	Recruiting now
Study type	INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation	randomized
Design	parallel
Masking	single
Primary purpose	treatment
Enrollment	236
Start date	1 October 2024
Primary completion	30 September 2026
Estimated completion	30 March 2027
Sites	1 location across Hong Kong

Drugs / interventions tested

• Buddy-Up Dyadic Physical Activity (BUDPA) program
• Usual care with waitlist control

Conditions studied

• Cognitive Impairment, Mild — all drugs for Cognitive Impairment, Mild →
• Dementia, Mild — all drugs for Dementia, Mild →
• Dementia — all drugs for Dementia →
• Caregiver Burden — all drugs for Caregiver Burden →

Sponsor

The University of Hong Kong

Who can join

18 and older, any sex, with Cognitive Impairment, Mild or Dementia, Mild. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

The global cost of dementia is over 818 billion, and a further rise is expected in the next decade. While family caregiving is the backbone of the formal care service, promoting "living well with dementia" needs to extend to a dyadic perspective to address the needs of persons with dementia (PwD) and their caregivers. Unique to dementia caregiving, imbalanced exchange in the assistance, interaction, relationship and autonomy between the partners in a care dyad always challenges their social interaction and relationships. Such eroding dyadic dynamics not only worsens the mental health of caregivers, but also compromises the quality of caregiving, fosters more dementia deterioration, and eventually complicates the caregiving process. Nevertheless, least attention is directed to dyadic dynamics in promoting living well with dementia. Partner exercise is designed in a way which requires collaboration of two members to enable the workout of each other. In addition to the benefits of exercise on dementia symptom control and caregiver's stress management, partner exercise provides a meaningful encounter to encourage reciprocity, collaboration and relationship closeness within the care dyad.

This is a sequential mixed-method study including a multicenter RCT to evaluate the effects of the 16-week enhanced BUDPA and a descriptive qualitative study to explore the care dyad's overall engagement experience and perceptions. The study will be conducted in 8 elderly community centres operated by four NGOs.

The primary aim of the study investigates the effects of a 16-week enhanced BUDPA program on the health and dyadic dynamic of the persons with dementia and their family caregivers (Objective 1-3). The secondary aim explores dyads' overall experience in program engagement, particularly in terms of perceived benefits, challenges, and experience in self-directed practice (Objective 4). The primary outcomes include PwD's cognitive function and caregivers' mood status.

We hypothesize that the 16-week enhanced BUDPA program will be more effective than usual care immediately post-test (T1: week 16) and 3 months (T2: week 29) and 6 months thereafter (T3: week 42) in:

1. improving cognitive function, NPS and HRQL of persons with mild to early-moderate dementia.
2. improving the affect, positive aspects of caregiving, and HRQL of family caregivers.
3. improving the dyadic dynamic between the person with dementia and family caregiver in a dyad.

Publications & conference data

No peer-reviewed publications indexed yet for this trial.