External Focus Strategy on Visuomotor Control in Older Adults

Only a few studies have adopted external focus strategy as an intervention to mitigate the negative effects of heightened conscious movement processing in older adults. The goal was to investigate whether a single-session intervention (SSI) using external focus strategy could improve gait stability and visual search behaviors during adaptive locomotion among the older population.

Participants were randomly allocated to either an external focus (EXT) or a control group (CON). All participants performed an obstacle circumvention walking task along an 8-m walkway for five trials at pre-intervention (T0), post-intervention (T1), and retention (T2). The training phase included 20 walking trials. EXT focused on digits displayed on monitors at their path destinations, while CON walked naturally without any manipulation.

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Key information

Conditions

Gait Fall Risk Older Adults

Age range

65 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Hong Kong, 000

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

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

Inclusion criteria

aged 65 or above
were able to walk independently indoors without walking aids

Exclusion criteria

a total score of less than 24 on the Chinese version of the Mini-Mental State Examination
a static visual acuity poorer than 20/40 vision
the presence of any untreated cerebral vascular disease, Parkinson's disease, or any other major neurological deficit

Treatment and study plan

External focus

Behavioral

The training phase consisted of 20 consecutive training trials, with a rest interval of at least 30 seconds between trials. All participants had to circumvent an obstacle during each trial on the 8-m level-ground walkway. During each trial, the general instruction was to focus on a random series of digits ranging from 0 to 9 displayed on monitors placed at the immediate and future destinations of the walkway. Each number was displayed for at least 2 seconds to allow participants to have sufficient time to read them.

Control

Behavioral

Primary outcomes

Gait stability

Time frame: pre-test, post-test (the same day, immediately after the single-session intervention), 1 week after post-test (retention)

Measured by a 3-D motion-capture system. Indicated by the variabilities of temporal and spatial gait parameters
Visual search behavior

Time frame: pre-test, post-test (the same day, immediately after the single-session intervention), 1 week after post-test (retention)

Measured by eye tracker.

Indicated by:

number of fixation (%) on ground number of fixation (%) on destination number of fixation (%) on obstacle number of fixation (%) on random areas fixation duration (%) on ground fixation duration (%) on destination fixation duration (%) on obstacle fixation duration (%) on random areas

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Investigating Visual Search Strategies and the Role of Attentional Focus During Psychomotor Gait Re-education in Older Adults at Risk of Falling: Implication for Fall Rehabilitation

Important dates

Study start: 2021
Primary completion: 2023
Study completion: 2023
First posted: Aug 26, 2024
Registry last updated: Aug 26, 2024

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

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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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