NCT05511597

Split-belt Treadmill Training for Freezing of Gait in Parkinson's Disease

Turning Around Freezing: Effect of Split-belt Treadmill Training on Daily-life Turning-related Freezing of Gait in Parkinson's Disease

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 26 (actual)
• Sponsor: KU Leuven · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 40 Years – 90 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

A split-belt treadmill (SBT) is a treadmill with two belts, whereby each leg can be driven at a different speed. Previous work by the investigators showed that one session of SBT training improved turning while multi-tasking and reduced FOG in PwPD tested in the laboratory. However, subsequent work raises questions as to whether treadmill improvements following repeated SBT training generalize to overground situations in the long term. Therefore, in this study, the investigators will perform a four-week SBT intervention with added practice of everyday turning scenarios (SBT+CP) or placebo exercise (SBT+PL), and study its effects on FOG in both the laboratory and at home.

Conditions

• Parkinson Disease
• Freezing of Gait
• Split-belt Treadmill

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Split-belt treadmill training	Split-belt walking with various speed ratios between the two legs, applied with random-block practice
BEHAVIORAL	Complex task practice	Overground gait flexibility training with added cognitive tasks
BEHAVIORAL	Static balance exercise	Mindfulness and breathing combined with static balance exercises

Timeline

• Start date: 2022-12-16
• Primary completion: 2025-10-31
• Completion: 2026-03-17
• First posted: 2022-08-23
• Last updated: 2026-03-19

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Belgium