NCT00177359

Restoring Skill in Walking

• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 2
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 48 (estimated)
• Sponsor: University of Pittsburgh · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 65 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The purpose of the study is to examine the effect of an intervention to improve walking based on motor learning (skill-based) compared to the usual intervention (strength, flexibility and balance-based) on clinical, psychological and laboratory measures of walking and balance of older adults with mobility disability (walking problems).

Detailed description

While therapeutic exercise to improve mobility and balance appears to improve physical performance and may reduce falls, less is known about the responsiveness to specific interventions or the relation between response to intervention and the underlying problems or impairments. Therapeutic approaches for improving mobility and reducing fall risk are heterogeneous, but do not consistently focus on problem solving as a method of enhancing motor control or skill, an approach that has been found to be important for motor learning in animal models. This two-year pilot study will allows us to compare the clinical, psychological and laboratory outcomes after a motor-learning based and an impairment-targeted exercise intervention to improve walking in older adults. All subjects will participate in pre and post intervention testing and a 12 week exercise intervention for gait involving either a motor learning (skill enhancement) or impairment-targeted (lower extremity strengthening, flexibility and gait cues).

Conditions

• Mobility Limitation

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	gait intervention

Timeline

• Start date: 2005-11-01
• Completion: 2007-06-01
• First posted: 2005-09-15
• Last updated: 2007-12-13

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States