Restoring Skill in Walking

University of Pittsburgh

Status and phase

Completed

Phase 2

Conditions

Mobility Limitation

Treatments

Behavioral: gait intervention

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

NIH

Identifiers

NCT00177359

0508137

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of the study is to examine the effect of an intervention to improve walking based on motor learning (skill-based) compared to the usual intervention (strength, flexibility and balance-based) on clinical, psychological and laboratory measures of walking and balance of older adults with mobility disability (walking problems).

Full description

While therapeutic exercise to improve mobility and balance appears to improve physical performance and may reduce falls, less is known about the responsiveness to specific interventions or the relation between response to intervention and the underlying problems or impairments. Therapeutic approaches for improving mobility and reducing fall risk are heterogeneous, but do not consistently focus on problem solving as a method of enhancing motor control or skill, an approach that has been found to be important for motor learning in animal models.

This two-year pilot study will allows us to compare the clinical, psychological and laboratory outcomes after a motor-learning based and an impairment-targeted exercise intervention to improve walking in older adults. All subjects will participate in pre and post intervention testing and a 12 week exercise intervention for gait involving either a motor learning (skill enhancement) or impairment-targeted (lower extremity strengthening, flexibility and gait cues).

Enrollment

48 estimated patients

Sex

All

Ages

65+ years old

Volunteers

No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

65 years of age and older
Ambulatory (with or without a straight cane, and without the assistance of another person)
Have written approval/clearance of their physician to participate in low to moderate intensity, supervised exercise as is characteristic of the interventions for improving gait.
Difficulty with walking or balance as indicated by the following two criteria during baseline testing:
- mild to moderate slowing of walking speed (walking speed ≥ .6m/s and ≤ 1.0m/s) and,
- gait variability (step length coefficient of variability, CV > 4.5%, or step width CV < 7% or > 30%)