Training Improves Balance Control

Boston University66 enrolled

Overview

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.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Enrollment

Conditions

Accidental Falls

Interventions

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.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 65 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

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

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

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).

Time frame: 12 weeks

Secondary Outcomes

Late Life Functional Disability Index - LLFDI

Self-reported measure of function