Table 1 Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics of participants by group

Age (years)

74 (68–83)

79 (75–82)

79 (75–84)

Female, n

11

11

11

Male, n

3

6

10

Height (cm)

167 (163–171)

163 (160–170)

170 (162–175)

Body weight(kg)

65 (60–71)

60 (52–67) ^a

72 (60–77) ^a

Fat mass (%)

30 (22–35)

23 (19–27)

26 (22–36)

BMI (kg/m²)

23 (21–26)

22 (20–24)

23 (21–26)

 Underweight, n

1

2

0

 Normal weight, n

9

13

13

 Overweight, n

4

1

6

 Obese, n

0

1

2

Nursing home residing, n

2

4

5

Home-living population, n

12

13

16

Education level (years)

10 (7–10)

7 (7–7)

7 (7–10)

Alzheimer duration (years)

2 (1–4)

2 (1–5)

6 (3–6)

 Mild; MMSE ≥21

5

2

11

 Moderate; MMSE < 21

9

15

10

GDS, score

0.1 (0.2–0.5)

0.5 (0.6–1)

0.6 (0.3–0.9)

ADL, score

6 (5.5–6)

6 (5.9–6)

5.5 (4.6–6)

IADL, score

4 (3–6)

4 (3–6)

3.5 (2–5)

 Antihypertensive treatment, n

8

12

13

 Statins, n

2

4

2

 Antidiabetic medication, n

2

4

4

 Depression treatment, n

0

3

5

 Anxiety treatment, n

1

2

2

 Anti-psychotic, n

1

0

1

 Cholinesterase inhibitors, n

6

8

6

 NMDA receptor antagonist, n

2

2

3

 Charlson, score

1 (1–1)

2 (1–2)

1 (1–2)

 Hypertension, n

8

12

13

 Diabetes, n

2

4

4

 Hypercholesterolemia, n

3

4

2

 C-reactive protein _(mg/L)

0.6 (0.6–1)

0.6 (0.6–1.3)

1 (0.6–2)

BDNFp _(pg/ml)

194.9 (95.1–315)

353.8 (109–452.7)

254 (128.5–542.2)

METs

4.2 (3.2–4.9)

4.4 (3.9–4.9) ^a

3.4 (2.9–4.2) ^a

MTP

52 (42–60)

50 (50–66)

40 (35–70)

HR _peak (Beats per minute)

124 (116–141)

120 (113–126)

112 (106–120)

Measured HR _{peak /} HR _max (%)

87

85

81

RPE at HR_peak

18 (17–18)

17 (17–18)

17 (17–18)

6MWT (meters)

470 (402–494)

430 (370–460)

420 (360–450)

MMSE score

18 (16–21)

18 (17–19)

21 (17–23)

RAVLT

22 (13–26)

21 (16–25)

19 (18–24)

Forward Digit Span

5 (3–6)

4 (4–5.3)

5 (4–7)

Backward Digit Span

2 (2–3)

3 (2–3)

3 (2–4)

QoL-AD composite

34 (32–36)

34 (32–35)

32 (29–34)