Clinical trial NCT02551666: Balance Recovery Training for Fall Prevention in Retirement Communities
Official title: Balance Recovery Training for Fall Prevention in Retirement Communities
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Accidental Falls, Aged, Exercise Movement Techniques
Lead sponsor: Texas A&M University
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
name: University of Michigan
First posted: 2015-09-16
Enrollment: 35
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 70
Standard ages: OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: Falls are the leading cause of injuries and injury-related deaths among older adults over the age of 65 in the United States. To help reduce the number of these falls, there is growing interest in using reactive balance training to improve the reactive response to common perturbations (e.g., tripping and slipping). The goal of this study was to compare treadmill-based reactive balance training versus Tai Chi performed at, and among residents of, older adult senior housing. We hypothesized that participants randomized to reactive balance training (RBT) would show better performance on reactive balance tests compared to participants randomized to Tai Chi. We also hypothesized that participants randomized to Tai Chi would show better performance on clinical tests of balance and mobility compared to participants randomized to RBT. The long-term goal of this work is to demonstrate the value of RBT over Tai Chi for preventing falls resulting from sudden, external perturbations.

Thirty-five residents of five senior housing facilities were allocated to either treadmill-based reactive balance training or Tai Chi training. Both interventions were performed three times per week for four weeks, with each session lasting approximately 30 minutes. A battery of balance tests was performed at baseline, and again one week, one month, three months, and six months post-training. The battery included six standard clinical tests of balance and mobility, and a test of reactive balance performance.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Must be age 70 or older
* Must be a resident of local continuing care retirement community (CCRC)
* Must be able to walk down a long hallway without any aids (cane, walker, etc.)
* Must not have a fragility fracture in the past 10 years
* Must not smoke
* Must not be in physical therapy
* Must not perform more than 150 minutes/week of moderate to vigorous aerobic activity
* Must score 24 or higher on Folstein Mini Mental Status Exam
* Must have less than 20% probability of major osteoporotic fracture as assessed by the fracture risk assessment tool (FRAX) score
* Must not have recently (within 1 year) participated in Tai Chi

Primary outcomes:
measure: Maximum Torso Angle at 0.8 Mph
timeFrame: 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months after completing four weeks of exercise intervention
measure: Maximum Torso Angle at 1.6 Mph
timeFrame: 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months after completing four weeks of exercise intervention
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Reactive Balance Rating
timeFrame: 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months after completing four weeks of exercise intervention
measure: Step Length at 0.8 Mph
timeFrame: 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months after completing four weeks of exercise intervention
measure: Timed-up-and-go Test
timeFrame: 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months after completing four weeks of exercise intervention
measure: Unipedal Stance Time Test
timeFrame: 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months after completing four weeks of exercise intervention
measure: Maximum Step Length Test
timeFrame: 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months after completing four weeks of exercise intervention
measure: Activities-specific Balance Confidence (ABC) Scale
timeFrame: 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months after completing four weeks of exercise intervention
measure: Performance-oriented Mobility Assessment (POMA)
timeFrame: 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months after completing four weeks of exercise intervention
measure: Berg Balance Test
timeFrame: 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months after completing four weeks of exercise intervention
measure: Step Length at 1.6 Mph
timeFrame: 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months after completing four weeks of exercise intervention
Other outcomes:
Locations:
Study officials:
affiliation: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
name: Michael Madigan, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Madigan ML, Aviles J, Allin LJ, Nussbaum MA, Alexander NB. A Reactive Balance Rating Method That Correlates With Kinematics After Trip-like Perturbations on a Treadmill and Fall Risk Among Residents of Older Adult Congregate Housing. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2018 Aug 10;73(9):1222-1228. doi: 10.1093/gerona/gly077.