Clinical trial NCT02185157: Effects of Dual-task Exercises on Gait Parameters and Cognitive Function in Elderly Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Official title: Effects of Dual-task Versus Aerobic Training on Gait Stride Variability and Cognitive Function of Independent Community-dwelling Elderly Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Healthy
Keywords: elderly
dual-task training
aerobic training
gait
cognition
Lead sponsor: Federal University of Minas Gerais
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2014-07-09
Enrollment: 68
Sex: FEMALE
Minimum age (years): 69
Maximum age (years): 79
Standard ages: OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: The training of a secondary task while walking, whether it is reasoning activities, memory or motor tasks, may enhance automation, walking performance, and postural control and, thus, minimize the risk of falls influenced by the walking patterns variability. However, the literature is scarce regarding the influence of dual-task training on changes in gait parameters.

The purpose of this prospective, blinded randomized controlled trial is to compare the short- and long-term effects of dual-task and aerobic training on gait stride variability and superior cerebral functions of independent community-dwelling elderly women.

The participants will be randomly allocated into either experimental or control groups.The experimental group will undertake 50 minutes/day of dual-task training, three times/week over 12 weeks, totaling 36 sessions, whereas the control group will receive the same doses of aerobic training. At baseline, after 18 and 36 sessions, and 12 weeks after the cessation of the interventions, researchers blinded to group allocations will collect the outcome measures.The interventions will be delivered by trained physical therapists.

Primary outcome will include gait stride variability, which will be assessed by a movement analysis system: the GaitRite® system, during cognitive and motor dual-tasks, at both normal and fast speeds. Secondary outcome measures will include a battery of global and specific cognitive function tests.

The findings of this trial may help better understand whether cognitive-motor interventions with older adults, when compared to traditional aerobic training, would result in greater improvements in gait under dual-task conditions and lead to improvements in cognitive tasks. Furthermore, the findings could potentially bring important insights regarding the impacts of improvements in walking abilities and cognition.

Detailed description: Socially speaking, the findings could potentially bring important insights regarding the impacts of improvements in walking abilities and cognition. If the elderly maintain safe gait patterns that prevent falls, they could reach self-sustained community participation and consequently reduce the burden of care on the family and caregivers. Additionally, the public health system may ultimately receive important positive economic and social impacts. This clinical trial may be reproduced in research and clinical practice environments.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Elderly women will be eligible if they are between 69 and 79 years of age, have at least three years of schooling,have no cognitive deficits, as determined by the scores on the Mini-Mental State Examination, adjusted for their education levels: ≥23 for three years, ≥25 for four to seven years, and ≥26 for eight or more years of school.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Participants will be excluded if they have neuromusculoskeletal diseases,which could restrain physical activities or make use of medications, which could interfere with motor performance and/or memory.

Primary outcomes:
measure: change of gait stride variability
timeFrame: Baseline, at the sixth week as a intermediary measure, final and three months after the end of the study
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Changes on the Executive function measured by Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination-Revised (ACE-R)
timeFrame: baseline, at the sixth week as a intermediary measure, final and three months after the end of study months later
Other outcomes:
measure: Changes on Stroop test or the Color-word interference test
timeFrame: Baseline,at the sixth week as a intermediary measure, final and three months after the end of the study
measure: Changes on Trail making test
timeFrame: Baseline, at the sixth week as a intermediary measure, final and three months after the end of the study
Locations:
city: Belo Horizonte
country: Brazil
facility: Department of Physical Therapy
state: MG
Study officials:
affiliation: Federal University of Minas Gerais
name: Gisele C. Gomes, Master
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: