Modified Otago Exercise Program on Balance Performance

Tung Wah College

Status: Completed

Conditions: Healthy Aging; Fall

Treatments: Other: Modified Otago Exercise Program; Other: Modified Otago Exercise Program with music

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05290571

MHS_SRC_2021_001

Details and patient eligibility

About

Fall is a common problem encountered by elderlies. In Hong Kong, the prevalence rate of falls among elderlies aged above 65 years old ranged from 18%-29%, standing at approximately one-fifths of the total elderly population. Falls pose huge threats to the physical and psychosocial health of the elderlies as they are often accompanied by serious injuries such as bone fracture and post-fall syndrome, decreased confidence in walking, and social exclusion.

Otago Exercise Program (OEP) was a tailor-made home-based fall prevention program of community-dwelling elderlies. It comprises of 3 main components: 5 lower limb strengthening, 12 balance retraining and walking exercises. Regarding on its effectiveness, multiple studies revealed that OEP and modified version of OEP (mOEP) brought significant improvements on perceived, static and dynamic balance, lower limb strength, quality of life and functional capacity of healthy elderlies and those with various health conditions such as chronic illnesses, osteoarthritis, stroke and hemiplegia.

The delivery method of OEP and mOEP has been limited to have elderlies following the instructions and illustrations of a printed booklet. Currently, there are only two proposed effective forms of mOEP: video-instructed and Exergames. Our study attempts to establish a new home-based exercise option incorporating mOEP with video, music and lyrics. It helps to increase the exercise motivation of elderlies, hence their physical performance.

Enrollment: 33 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 55+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Elderlies in community dwellings aged 55 or above
• Communicable & able to follow command
• Self-reported sufficient visual & auditory ability to follow the actions in video
• HK-MoCA 5-Min Protocol: No cognitive impairment
• Able to access electronic devices, such as smartphones, computers, televisions with network, Digital Video Disc/Compact Disc player

Exclusion criteria

• History of severe medical conditions that hinders physical ability, such as heart diseases and neurological disorders
• History of lower limb fracture in recent 1 year
• History of joint replacement and any cardio-thoracic surgeries
• Self-reported visual & auditory impairment
• Users of walking aids other than sticks, tripods or quadripods

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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33 participants in 2 patient groups

Intervention Group

Experimental group

Description:

Intervention Group will be asked to follow the actions in the provided video. It lasts for approximately 30 minutes, with 5-minute warm-up and cool-down exercises respectively, a 4-minute song repeating for 4 times and a 1-minute rest in between each repetition. Videos, in the form of a YouTube link, will be distributed for the Intervention Group, as well as the leaflets.

Treatment:

Other: Modified Otago Exercise Program with music

Control Group

Active Comparator group

Description:

Control Group will receive a leaflet on 10 actions extracted from mOEP, 2 actions from conventional OEP and 1 action from Mini-BESTest. The participants will perform 8-16 repetitions for each action, with 3-5 seconds of rest between actions.

Treatment:

Other: Modified Otago Exercise Program