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Completed

NCT Number: NCT05734443

Effects of Task-Specific Step Training on Reactive Balance

The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate a novel and pragmatic (i.e., not requiring specialized equipment) task-specific step training regimen that aims to improve reactive balance after tripping. The main questions it aims to answer are:

* Does this step training regimen improve reactive balance after tripping compared to no training? * How well does this step training regimen improve reactive balance compared to treadmill training, which is a more commonly studied reactive balance training regimen that uses a specialized treadmill.

Participants will:

* complete step training or treadmill training (or no training if assigned to the control group) twice a week for three weeks * experience a laboratory-induced trip three weeks later to evaluate their reactive balance

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Key information

Conditions

Accidental Fall

Age range

65 year–80 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Virginia Tech

Blacksburg, Virginia, 24061, United States

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • 65-80 years old
  • willing to use wearable sensors for 2-3 weeks (for a separate study)
  • no lower limb amputation
  • not weigh over 250 pounds
  • pass a telephone interview related to cognitive status

Exclusion criteria

  • participants must pass a health screening involving a questionnaire that will be reviewed by a health care specialist.
  • participants must not have clinical osteoporosis as indicated by a bone mineral density of the lumbar vertebra and proximal femur of t<-2.0 as obtained from dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA), or a DEXA scan completed within the last year.

Treatment and study plan

Step training

Behavioral

Participants practice volitional and reactive stepping responses that mimic those needed when recovering balance after tripping.

Treadmill training

Behavioral

Sudden treadmill changes in speed (from standing) induce trip-like losses of balance, after which participants take steps to recover balance and establish a stable gait pattern. This is repeated over a range of speeds to both provide training variability and to individualize training to each participant's capability.

Primary outcomes

  1. Trunk Angle at Touchdown of the First Recovery Step

    Time frame: 1 week after the 3-week intervention

    After a laboratory-induced trip: Angle from vertical of a line connecting midpoint of greater trochanter markers and midpoint of the acromion markers

  2. Trip Outcome

    Time frame: 1 week after the 3-week intervention

    This is a binary variable that has a value of either "fall" or "recovery."

    After a laboratory-induced trip, trip outcome will be assign to one of the following two values:

    "fall" if a participant is fully and continuously supported by the harness as observed from video, or if the harness force applied to the participant, integrated over time from trip onset until 1 second after touchdown of the first recovery step, is greater than 40% of body weight * seconds. The harness force will be measured by a uniaxial load cell.

    "recovery" if the harness force applied to the participant, integrated over time from trip onset until 1 second after touchdown of the first recovery step, is less than 40% of body weight * seconds. The harness force will be measured by a uniaxial load cell.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Recovery Step Length

    Time frame: 1 week after the 3-week intervention

    After a laboratory-induced trip, the distance between a lateral malleolus marker of the stance limb and a lateral malleolus marker of the stepping foot at touchdown

  2. Sacrum Height at Touchdown of the First Recovery Step

    Time frame: 1 week after the 3-week intervention

    After a laboratory-induced trip, the minimum distance between the walkway and the greater trochanter marker on the non-tripping limb during trip recovery.

  3. Gait Speed

    Time frame: 1 week after the 3-week intervention

    The average forward speed of the participant prior to the laboratory-induced trip.

  4. Average Step Speed

    Time frame: 1 week after the 3-week intervention

    After a laboratory-induced trip, the distance between a lateral malleolus marker of the stance limb and a lateral malleolus marker of the stepping foot at touchdown divided by the time from impact with the trip obstacle and touchdown of the initial recovery step.

  5. Trip Recovery Strategy

    Time frame: 1 week after the 3-week intervention

    This is a binary variable that has a value of either "elevating" or "lowering."

    Elevating or lowering, depending upon how the participant uses the foot that trips on the obstacle after the laboratory-induced trip. If the foot is elevated over the obstacle, then this will be elevating. If the foot is lowered to the ground and the opposite foot first steps over the obstacle, then this will be lowering. The measurement tool to determine this outcome is a video recording of the trip, and this outcome has no units.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Effects of Task-Specific Step Training on Reactive Balance After Laboratory-Induced Trips: A Pilot Trial

Important dates

Study start
2022
Primary completion
2023
Study completion
2023
First posted
Feb 21, 2023
Registry last updated
Sep 24, 2025

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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