Training Improves Balance Control

Accidental Falls Clinical Trial

Official title:

Improving Balance Control and Self-Reported Lower Extremity Function in Community Dwelling Older Adults - A Randomized Control Study

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT01547988
• Other study ID #: RRF 2001-056
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• First received: February 29, 2012
• Last updated: March 5, 2012
• Start date: October 2001
• Est. completion date: August 2003

Study information

• Verified date: March 2012
• Source: Boston University
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Health authority: United States: Institutional Review Board
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of a group-based functional and specific balance training program on balance function in healthy older adults. It is commonly considered difficult to improve balance function in healthy older adults. The program included dual-task exercises; physical training exercises and a cognitive task (e.g. reading or reciting a story) performed simultaneously, as well as perturbation exercises, where balance is challenged in unexpected ways.

The investigators hypothesized that following the proposed training, older adults would improve their speed of taking a step in both single and dual task conditions, refine their ability to control balance when standing still and improve their self-reported physical function.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 66
• Est. completion date: August 2003
• Est. primary completion date: February 2003
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: Both
• Age group: 65 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• 65 years or older

• Independently ambulatory (cane acceptable; not walker)

• Score better than 45 on the Berg Balance Scale

• Higher than 24 Mini-Mental Score

Exclusion Criteria:

• Severe focal muscle weakness or visual impairment

• Known neurological disorders (including stroke, Parkinson disease)

• Metastatic cancer

• Use of medication that impairs balance or strength

Study Design

Allocation: Randomized, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Single Blind (Outcomes Assessor), Primary Purpose: Treatment

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Accidental Falls

Intervention

Other:
• Balance Training Intervention
The intervention group participated in a total of 24 one-hour training sessions over a period of 12 weeks. The training program utilized different size balls as a general tool in a series of progressively more difficult exercises targeting sitting, standing, and gait-related balance control. The program included exercises at five different levels of progressively more challenging balance exercises. Levels 1-4 focused on voluntarily controlled balance exercises, whereas level 5 also included perturbation exercises to trigger automatic compensatory stepping responses. All levels included attention-demanding dual task exercises that required subjects to simultaneously perform motor and cognitive activities.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	NeuroMuscular Research Center, Boston University	Boston	Massachusetts

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Boston University

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

References & Publications (3)

Lars I. E. Oddsson, Patrick Boissy and Itshak Melzer. How to improve gait and balance function in elderly individuals—compliance with principles of training. European Review of Aging and Physical Activity Volume 4, Number 1, 15-23, DOI: 10.1007/s11556-007-0019-9

Melzer I, Oddsson LI. The effect of a cognitive task on voluntary step execution in healthy elderly and young individuals. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2004 Aug;52(8):1255-62. — View Citation

Melzer I, Shtilman I, Rosenblatt N, Oddsson LI. Reliability of voluntary step execution behavior under single and dual task conditions. J Neuroeng Rehabil. 2007 May 29;4:16. — View Citation

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Reaction time of dual task step execution	Subjects stand on a force platform and are asked to execute a step as rapidly as possible following a tactile stimulus on their heel while performing a cognitive attention demanding task (Stroop task - call out colors of words that are names of colors, e.g. the word "BLUE" is presented in yellow letters).	12 weeks	No
Secondary	Late Life Functional Disability Index - LLFDI	Self-reported measure of function	12 weeks	No