The purpose of this study is to (1) develop and test the effectiveness of home-based interventions on dual-task performance in older adults; and (2) determine the generalizability of the four trainings (i.e. single-task motor training, single-task cognitive training, dual-task motor-cognitive training, and dual-task cognitive-cognitive trainings) to novel tasks.
Although, dual-task motor-cognitive training has proven to be more effective in improving dual-task balance performance than traditional single-task motor training, poor evidence of training-related transfer to a novel dual task has been shown. Additionally, another important impediment to the development of intervention to improve dual-task balance performance is that the previous studies have largely focused on training in a laboratory, or clinical setting, often with one-on-one supervision by a therapist or research assistant. Even though the home-based approach is more pragmatic, desirable, and encourages accessibility, no study has been done to examine the efficacy of home-based dual-task training. Therefore, this study aims to address these gaps in the literature by conducting a home-based program designed to improve dual-task performance with a broader transfer-of-training effects in older adults. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of four groups (i.e. single-task motor training, single-task cognitive training, dual-task motor-cognitive training, and dual-task cognitive-cognitive trainings).
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
60
Balance activities, using a task-oriented approach, progress participants from body stability, to body stability plus hand manipulation, then body transport, and finally body transport plus hand manipulation.
Cognitive training involves executive function, attention, and working memory. Examples of cognitive training include finding the exit to a maze, calculation, visual-spatial skills, Sudoku, Stroop color-word task, word search, spot the differences, visual discrimination, and memory scanning skills.
The Dual-task cognitive-cognitive training involves applying two cognitive tasks at the same time.
Faculty of Associated Medical Sciences, Chiang Mai University
Sripoom, Chiang Mai, Thailand
The Center of Mass velocity and Base of Support distance
The Center of Mass velocity and Base of Support distance is referred as the direction of the center of mass velocity in relation to base of support. It is used to measure the control of dynamic balance throughout gait under single-task and dual-task conditions in order to examine training effect.
Time frame: At baseline and after 4-week training
Spatio-temporal gait parameters
Spatio-temporal gait parameters is measured throughout gait under single-task and dual-task conditions in order to examine training effect.
Time frame: At baseline and after 4-week training
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