Effects of Exercise Poles on Older Adults During Exercise Walking

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Status and phase

Completed

Phase 2

Phase 1

Conditions

Aging

Movement Disorders

Treatments

Device: Exercise poles

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

NIH

Identifiers

NCT00037167

NIAMS-071

R44AR048029

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study uses a patented type of exercise poles, developed to assist runners rehabilitating from lower body injuries. These poles may offer older adults improved stability, reduced fear of falling, and lessened lower body pain when exercise walking.

Full description

Phase 1 (being concluded as of Feb 2002) used 18 older adults to investigate prototype versions of the running poles. Preliminary results, after 3 months of testing, indicate the poles are safe and effective. Phase 2 will use improved versions of the poles, which are currently in development, with a group of around 125-150 subjects over a longer length of time (12 months). Changes in walking gait quality, balance, strength, body composition, exercise adherence, and subjective perceptions of wellness will be assessed before, during, and after the 12 month exercise session.

Sex

All

Ages

65 to 80 years old

Volunteers

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Age 65-80
Normal gait

Exclusion criteria

Inability to walk continuously for 5 minutes
Contraindication from a personal physician
Height over 6'2" or weight over 200 lbs (due to limitations of existing pole design)
Mild to severe cognitive impairment