Text Size

Visual Training Program to Improve Balance and Prevent Falls in Older Adults

This study is ongoing, but not recruiting participants.
Sponsor:
Collaborators:
Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
Information provided by:
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
NCT00549406
First received: October 24, 2007
Last updated: July 27, 2011
Last verified: July 2011
History of Changes
  Purpose

The ability to maintain balance and avoid falling is highly dependent on the ability to locate objects and architectural features in the environment. This need to continually monitor the environment as one moves about in daily life suggests a critical role for visual attention, gaze control, and spatial memory, all of which are known to decline with aging. In this study, the investigators will test the efficacy of a computer-based visual-training program designed to improve the ability to rapidly extract information from the peripheral visual field. It is expected that older adults involved in the visual training intervention will improve the speed, accuracy, and effectiveness of reach-to-grasp balance-recovery reactions evoked by sudden unpredictable balance perturbation.


Condition Intervention Phase
Accidental Falls
Musculoskeletal Equilibrium
 Procedure: computerized visual training
Procedure: computerized word puzzles
Procedure: video-game based visual training
 Phase 1

Study Type: Interventional
Study Design: Allocation: Randomized
Endpoint Classification: Efficacy Study
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single Blind (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary Purpose: Treatment
Official Title: Visual Processing and Postural Reactions: Development and Pilot Testing of a "Visual Training" Program to Improve Balance Control and Prevent Falls in Older Adults

Resource links provided by NLM:

MedlinePlus related topics: Falls
U.S. FDA Resources

Further study details as provided by Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre:

Primary Outcome Measures:
  • ability to use peripheral vision to recover balance by grasping a handhold [ Time Frame: within one week of starting and completing the intervention ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

Secondary Outcome Measures:
  • natural gaze and balance-recovery behavior (in responding to a sudden unpredictable balance perturbation while walking in an unfamiliar environment); clinical balance measures; visual-processing measures [ Time Frame: within one week of starting and completing the intervention ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

Enrollment: 33
Study Start Date: June 2008
Estimated Study Completion Date: February 2012
Primary Completion Date: July 2011 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)
Arms Assigned Interventions
Experimental: 1
computer-based visual-training program UFOV
 Procedure: computerized visual training
two one-hour training sessions per week, for five consecutive weeks
Other Name: "Useful Field of View" (UFOV) training
Experimental: 2
video-game based visual training
 Procedure: video-game based visual training
two one-hour training sessions per week, for five consecutive weeks
Other Name: Video game training
Placebo Comparator: 3
computerized word puzzles
 Procedure: computerized word puzzles
two one-hour sessions per week, for five consecutive weeks
Other Name: "Super Text-Twist" puzzles

  Show Detailed Description

  Eligibility

Ages Eligible for Study:   64 Years to 80 Years
Genders Eligible for Study:   Both
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:   Yes
Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Community dwelling
  • Functional mobility (no dependence on mobility aids)
  • Impaired visual processing (UFOV divided attention score of 200ms or worse)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Neurological or musculoskeletal disorder
  • Cognitive disorder (e.g. dementia)
  • Uncorrected visual impairments
  • Recurrent dizziness or unsteadiness
  Contacts and Locations
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00549406

Locations
Canada, Ontario
Centre for Studies in Aging, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M4N 3M5
Sponsors and Collaborators
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
Investigators
Principal Investigator: Brian E Maki, PhD, PEng Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto
Principal Investigator: Sandra M McKay, PhD Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto
  More Information

Additional Information:
(Click here for more information about the Centre for Studies in Aging)  This link exits the ClinicalTrials.gov site

No publications provided

Responsible Party: Dr Brian Maki, Director, Centre for Studies in Aging, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00549406     History of Changes
Other Study ID Numbers: 2007-PREV-INT-452, CIHR grant# MOP-13355
Study First Received: October 24, 2007
Last Updated: July 27, 2011
Health Authority: Canada: Canadian Institutes of Health Research

Keywords provided by Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre:
Vision
Visual attention
Postural balance
Geriatrics

ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on May 22, 2013