Balance Impairment and Falls Risk in People With Lower Limb Arthritis, and Can These be Improved With Exercise?

National Ageing Research Institute, Australia

Status

Completed

Conditions

Arthritis

Treatments

Behavioral: Balance Exercises

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

Identifiers

NCT00527189

98765

Details and patient eligibility

About

Arthritis has been reported as a risk factor for falls. Few studies have investigated the effect of balance training on balance performance in women with lower limb arthritis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a four-month individualised home exercise programme in improving gait stability and balance for women with arthritis.

Sex

Female

Volunteers

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Lower limb osteoarthritis or lower limb rheumatoid arthritis

Exclusion criteria

Participants were excluded if they:

Did not have lower limb arthritis,
Were bed bound,
Had additional co-morbidities that confer risk of falls (such as Parkinson's disease, stroke, multiple sclerosis, history of cardiac syncope, epilepsy),
Had undergone lower limb surgery within the previous twelve months, and/or
Had synvisc or a corticosteroid injection within the last six months.