Accidental Falls
Conditions
Keywords
Balance control, Aging, Balance reactions, Perturbation, above seventy years old
Brief summary
The proposed project is a prospective experimental Randomized Control Trial study design. Independent old adults (age 70 years old and older) who do not suffer from balance problems willing to participate in the study will be tested before and after Peturbation balance training during walking to explore whether there are differences in balance control and balance reactions as a result of training.
Detailed description
A total of 48 old adults will be enrolled, evaluated and trained. They will be randomly assigned to two groups: one exercise group (perturbation training) and one group without perturbation. No gender based differences are expected for the recovery outcome measures so we will be able to pool male and female individuals for this analysis. Each subject of the experimental and of the control groups will be trained on 24 occasions over a period of 10-12 weeks (20-30 minutes, 2-3 times/week). This regimen was based on previous balance training study that demonstrated improvements in balance control with similar training duration and frequency. Gait and balance function and physical activity level will be tested in both groups before, immediately after, 3 and 6 months after completion of the training period to explore the benefit and carryover of training. In addition using monthly phone calls, falls, their severity, functional activity limitations in the home and community setting and health status will be monitored 12 months after the training period.
Interventions
PROCEDUREperturbation training
The experimental and control groups will participate in 3 month training program twice a week 20 minutes each training session
Sponsors
Barzilai Medical Center
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE (Subject, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
70 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Be 70 years or older, male or female * Be an independent ambulator (not cane or walker) and provide medical waiver from MD.
Exclusion criteria
* Severe focal muscle weakness or paralysis, after Total Hip or knee arthroplasty * Moderate-severe dementia (Mini-Mental Score \< 24). * Serious visual impairment * Severe peripheral or compression/entrapment neuropathies. * Symptomatic orthostatic hypotension, respiratory, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, or neurological disorders that may interfere with participation in the exercise program. * Cancer, metastatic or under active treatment.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| voluntary and compensatory step execution times in miliseconds | change from baseline to 3 months later | the time from perturbation to foot contact the floor completing the recovary stepping will be measured in miliseconds |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| postural sway parameters such as mediolateral sway in milimeters and elliptical area in milimeters squeres | Time 1: pre test' and 3 months later time 2: post testing procedure | body sway will be measured to evaluate control of posture |
Countries
Israel
Outcome results
None listed