Clinical trial NCT02252874: Can Entertaining Action-video Games Enhance Dynamic Visual Function and Improve Balance? A Randomized Controlled Trial.
Official title: Can Entertaining Action-video Games Enhance Dynamic Visual Functions and Improve Balance? A Randomized Controlled Trial.
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Vision, Balance and Falls in Older Adults
Keywords: balance
visual function
community-dwelling older adults
action video-game
Lead sponsor: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: University of Waterloo
name: University of California, Berkeley
First posted: 2014-09-30
Enrollment: 160
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 60
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: OTHER

Brief summary: This project is aimed to find out whether action video games can enhance dynamic visual function and improve balance function in the community-dwelling older adults. It is also aimed to examine the relationship between dynamic visions and balance functions.

Detailed description: Balance control is an important component even in a very simple daily task like walking. However, as we age, our physical and visual function would gradually deteriorate even in the absence of health or eye problems. Improving elderly balance control through different training is one way to prevent falls. In our project, we investigate the use of action video games, which is easy-to-find and entertaining, as a visual function trainer to improve balance of older adults.

We hypothesize that the training would show an improvement in both balance and dynamic vision. Our primary hypothesis is that postural sway in static and dynamic balance measures will improve after action video-game intervention. For secondary outcome measures, we hypothesize that the training will improve dynamic visual function (as measured by dynamic visual acuity and dynamic contrast sensitivity), and visual attention measures (as measured by useful field of view, multiple object tracking and spatial attention).

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Ability to understand and speak Cantonese
* No formal training or regular practice of balance function (e.g. Tai-chi)
* Little and preferably no video-game experience
* Best corrected distance acuity of 0.2 logMAR or better

Exclusion Criteria:

* Any diagnosed ocular diseases and ocular-motor abnormalities
* Suffering form severe medical problems or self reported neurological or cognitive disorders
* Suffering from physical impairments or physical limitations restricting them from training
* Having self reported vestibular or cerebellar dysfunction, history of vertigo or severe hearing loss
* Suffering from crippling arthritis, or a recent fracture of lower limb
* Planned major surgery during the trial

Primary outcomes:
measure: Static and dynamic postural sway on forced platform
timeFrame: Change from baseline at week 8 and change from baseline at week 16
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Grating visual acuity at different moving speeds
timeFrame: Change from baseline at week 8 and change from baseline at week 16
measure: Useful Field of View (UFOV)
timeFrame: Change from baseline at week 8 and change from baseline at week 16
measure: Multiple tracking objects (MOT)
timeFrame: Change from baseline at week 8 and change from baseline at week 16
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Hong Kong
country: China
facility: Allen MY Cheong
Study officials:
affiliation: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
name: Allen MY Cheong, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: