Evaluating Technology-Based Fall Prevention Interventions (FaCT2)

University of Washington

Status: Completed

Conditions: Falls (Accidents) in Old Age

Treatments: Other: Cognitive Training; Other: Technology-based Education

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; NIH

Identifiers

NCT03190460

50219

R21NR015541 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Details and patient eligibility

About

Approximately one in three older adults fall annually and it is the primary cause of traumatic injury in older adults. While exercise and balance programs have been shown to be effective in reducing fall risk, maintaining behavior change is known to be difficult. Thus additional interventions need to be validated to add to our current armamentarium to reduce falls in older adults. Cognitive training (CT) involves exercises that target specific cognitive tasks, such as memory or processing speed. It has been speculated that routinely performing such tasks may increase functional ability. Recent work has pointed to an increased risk of falls in community-dwelling older adults who have alterations in specific cognitive tasks. Thus the purpose of the proposed study is to demonstrate the feasibility and to explore the effectiveness of a 16 week CT intervention to reduce risk and incidence of fall and improve outcomes up to 1 month post-intervention in a group of community dwelling older adults at risk for fall.

Enrollment: 60 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 65 to 89 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• 65-89 years old
• speak and read English
• live within 30 miles of the University of Washington
• a score of 4 or higher on the Memory Impairment Screen (MIS-T)
• regular access to a computer with internet capability (whether at home, friend/family, community center, public library, or other)
• a positive response to any of the following three fall related questions: i) Have you had two or more falls in the prior 12 months? ii) Are you responding to the advertisement because of a recent fall? iii) Do you have difficulty with walking or balance?
• <53 seconds on 90 second balance test or gait speed <1m/sec.

Exclusion criteria

• current participation in formal cognitive training program
• currently bedridden or wheelchair dependent

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Triple Blind

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60 participants in 2 patient groups

Intervention

Experimental group

Treatment:

Other: Cognitive Training

Education

Other group

Treatment:

Other: Technology-based Education