Objectives/Goals: For older adults with subjective cognitive decline (SCD, N=38), we aim to qualitatively understand and describe the 1) unique participant perspectives, 2) unexpected quantitative findings, 3) complex symptom experience and resultant impact on quality of life (QoL) to further inform clinical and public health with non-pharmacological interventions. Methods/Study Population: From an RCT (12 weeks, 150 min/week), pre-post-aerobic cycling intervention (n=30) vs. control (n=8), symptoms and QoL were assessed with 4 questionnaires/individual interviews. The data were analyzed with Pearson’s r correlation coefficient/Spearman’s Rho and ANCOVA/Quade test. With mixed methods, we aim to 1) analyze the baseline interviews of cognitive and affective symptoms (anxiety and depressive) and QoL for themes to better understand the variations between SCD+ (preclinical Alzheimer’s disease more likely n=24) vs. non+ (n=14), 2) compare the cross-sectional data for emergent themes and patterns to explore the reasons for the unexpected correlations, and 3) describe symptomology changes and impact on QoL. Qualitative results will show varied convergent or divergent themes. Results/Anticipated Results: Significant correlations (N=38, p<.05) were shown between anxiety and depressive symptoms (r=0.44); anxiety symptoms and overall (r=-0.38) and psychological (r=-0.57) QoL; and depressive symptoms with overall (r=-0.49) and psychological (r=-0.53) QoL. Some remained correlated in SCD+; cognitive and depressive symptoms were correlated (r=.41, p<.05). The cycling group worsened in all aspects while the control group had non-significant improvements. Significant predictive relationships between worsening depressive symptoms following cycling were found for overall QoL (p=0.01) and physiological QoL (p<0.01). We will show similar/varied explanatory themes for SCD+ versus non+. Merged data, pre- and post-cycling, will explain the preliminary results from the participants’ perspectives. Discussion/Significance of Impact: The COVID-19 pandemic (during the study) and loneliness likely impacted results. We seek to understand these findings through a thematic analysis, build a body of evidence, inform the assessment and treatment of cognitive and affective symptoms in SCD, improve QoL, and positively impact brain/overall health at the clinical and public health levels.
Watry et al. (2026) studied this question.