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Training Improves Balance Control
Sponsor: Boston University Charles River Campus
Summary
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of a group-based functional and specific balance training program on balance function in healthy older adults. It is commonly considered difficult to improve balance function in healthy older adults. The program included dual-task exercises; physical training exercises and a cognitive task (e.g. reading or reciting a story) performed simultaneously, as well as perturbation exercises, where balance is challenged in unexpected ways. The investigators hypothesized that following the proposed training, older adults would improve their speed of taking a step in both single and dual task conditions, refine their ability to control balance when standing still and improve their self-reported physical function.
Official title: Improving Balance Control and Self-Reported Lower Extremity Function in Community Dwelling Older Adults - A Randomized Control Study
Key Details
Gender
All
Age Range
65 Years - Any
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Enrollment
66
Start Date
2001-10
Completion Date
2003-08
Last Updated
2026-07-21
Healthy Volunteers
Yes
Conditions
Interventions
Balance Training Intervention
The intervention group participated in a total of 24 one-hour training sessions over a period of 12 weeks. The training program utilized different size balls as a general tool in a series of progressively more difficult exercises targeting sitting, standing, and gait-related balance control. The program included exercises at five different levels of progressively more challenging balance exercises. Levels 1-4 focused on voluntarily controlled balance exercises, whereas level 5 also included perturbation exercises to trigger automatic compensatory stepping responses. All levels included attention-demanding dual task exercises that required subjects to simultaneously perform motor and cognitive activities.
Locations (1)
NeuroMuscular Research Center, Boston University
Boston, Massachusetts, United States