At a glance
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Intervention to Enhance Lateral Balance Function and Prevent Falls in Aging
In Brief
A clinical study evaluating Physical Training Interventions for Accidental Falls. Completed, enrolled 102 participants across 2 sites.
Detailed Summary
Falls and their consequences are among the major problems in the medical care of older individuals. The long-term goal of this research is to establish the efficacy of a scientifically grounded and mechanism-based therapeutic intervention for improving balance function and preventing falls in older people. When human balance is challenged, protective stepping is a vital strategy for preventing a fall during activities of daily life. Many older people at risk for falls have particular difficulties with successfully stepping sideways as a protective response to loss of balance in the lateral direction. We propose that age-related declines in lateral balance function through impaired protective stepping that precipitates falls, result from neuromechanical (NM) limitations in hip abductor-adductor (AB-AD) muscle strength (torque and power). Moreover, we hypothesize that these functional and NM impairments are reversible with combined high intensity induced step training (IST) and muscle strengthening.
Study Details
Timeline
Interventions
Subjects will be assigned to one of four training groups. Training will occur three times weekly for twelve consecutive weeks. The IST group will receive waist-pulls by a motorized machine to produce stepping. Subjects in the HST group will perform muscle resistance exercises. Subjects in the combined IST and HST will receive both IST and HST interventions. Participants in the SFR group will perform flexibility and relaxation exercises.