Participants
cognitive impairment
RECRUITMENT
Outpatients attending the memory clinic at RICE who were identified as being potentially eligible to participate in the present pilot study were invited to participate by RICE gerontology clinicians. Interested individuals were referred to study staff, with clinicians taking no further roll in study procedures. Eligibility requirements were age > 65 years; diagnosed mild cognitive impairment only (Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) [With intervention acceptability as a primary outcome measure, there is a lack of comparable literature to quantitatively estimate a required sample size in this population, given adherence rates to the exercise snacking intervention are yet to be established. As such, for reasons of pragmatism and a fixed duration of study funding, a target of 20 participants to complete follow-up measurements in a three-month testing window was set. Participants who had not adhered to the intervention were included within this target sample size, so long as they would attend follow-up assessment. This approach was taken in an attempt to avoid a withdrawal bias, i.e., only participants who adhered to the intervention returning for follow-up assessment thus positively skewing interpretation of intervention acceptability. A rolling recruitment strategy was employed whereby up to 10 extra participants could be recruited to replace participants who withdrew from the study and were not willing or able to attend follow-up assessments, provided there was sufficient time to enrol and complete follow-up assessments of the replacement participants in the three-month testing period.