Treadmill Training in Infants At-Risk for Neuromotor Delay

Infants at risk for neurodevelopmental delay with and without treadmill training: frequency of alternating steps and toe contacts

Status

Completed

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

ANZCTR

Registry ID

ACTRN12612001060831

Enrollment

Registered

2012-10-04

Start date

2004-10-18

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2020-01-13

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

None listed

Brief summary

The purpose of this study was to examine the potential benefits of treadmill training in infants who are at risk of having delays related to their movement development. In addition, previous research has suggested that there might be a relationship between how infants perform their steps on the treadmill and the age of onset of independent walking. Therefore, this has also been explored. Hypotheses: treadmill training in infants at risk for developmental delays may: a) lead to earlier onset of walking; b) increase the number of steps taken per minute; and c) improve correct foot positioning during stepping relative to an untrained control group.

Interventions

Treadmill training; frequency: 5 days/week; duration: 8 minutes/session; belt speed: 0.2m/s. The intervention started when infants were able to produce 10 supported steps on a treadmill within 1 minute trial (as long as it happened before turning 13 months corrected age, if they were to be included in this study). Treadmill training continued until the infant was observed walking 3 independent steps over ground, or the infant turned 24 months corrected age.

Study design

Allocation

Randomised controlled trial

Intervention model

Parallel

Primary purpose

Prevention

Masking

Blinded (masking used)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

6 Months to 13 Months

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Mild to moderate hypo/hypertonia or developmental delay when examined by their pediatrician; no congenital musculoskeletal deficits or other genetic disorders.

Exclusion criteria

Severe hypo/hypertonia, genetic disorders such as spina bifida or Down syndrome, and genetic musculoskeletal deficits.

Outcome results