NCT02551666

Balance Recovery Training for Fall Prevention in Retirement Communities

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 35 (actual)
• Sponsor: Texas A&M University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 70 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

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.

Conditions

• Accidental Falls, Aged, Exercise Movement Techniques

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Balance recovery training	Participants will practice recovering their balance after a perturbation similar to tripping while walking. Each of these 'balance recovery training' sessions will last approximately 30 minutes, and will be performed 3 times per week for 4 weeks.
OTHER	Tai Chi exercise	Participants will perform Tai Chi exercises (Yang short form) for 30 minutes, 3 times a week for 4 weeks. Each session will be led by an experienced Tai Chi instructor.

Timeline

• Start date: 2015-09-01
• Primary completion: 2017-05-01
• Completion: 2017-05-01
• First posted: 2015-09-16
• Last updated: 2020-07-14
• Results posted: 2020-07-14