Graded Motor Imagery and Fall Risk in Older Adults

Completed

• Conditions: Balance; Fall Risk
• Interventions: Procedure: Graded Motor Imagery

• Registration Number: NCT05715112
• Lead Sponsor: St. Ambrose University

Brief Summary

To determine if there is any carry over effect of sensation training for the feet, officially called Graded Motor Imagery (GMI), will impact balance and fall risk factors in older individuals. This will be looked at to see if there is a difference in balance and sensation before and right after the training.

Detailed Description

In order to increase acuity of body maps, various tactile and movement-based strategies have been recommended and supported for research focusing on sensory discrimination. Current evidence, specific to painful conditions related to altered cortical mapping, have shown growing evidence in reducing pain and disability. In regards to it's ability to alter foot pain in older adults and decreasing fall risk, prior conference case study and case series presentations have suggested potential clinical benefit, but it has not been formally studied. The aim of this study is to determine if a sensory discrimination training for feet in older adults can alleviate pain, improve sensory discrimination, and also decrease fall risk. Specifically, does a 20 minute training session improve pain, balance (Brief-BEST test), and sensory discrimination in individuals over 65 years of age. Secondary analysis may exam characteristics that best identify those who benefit from this training.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2022-08-17
• Primary Completion: 2022-08-18
• Study Completion: 2022-08-18
• Study First Submitted: 2023-01-13
• Study First Submitted QC: 2023-02-04
• Study First Posted: 2023-02-06
• Status Verified: 2023-05
• Last Update Submitted: 2023-05-08
• Last Update Posted: 2023-05-10

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 42

Inclusion Criteria

• Be able to read and understand English
• Be over the age of 65
• Be independent with ambulation (with or without an assistive device)
• Not have any skin condition or injury to the plantar or dorsal part of the foot
• Have the visual ability to view images on a tablet to partake in a test

Exclusion Criteria

• No existing skin conditions on the bottom of the foot that would impair sensation
• No current injury to the plantar or dorsal side of the foot
• No prior surgery or major injury to the plantar or dorsal side of the foot
• Lacking sensation in the foot
• Unable to read and understand English
• Lacking ability to view images on a tablet to partake in a test
• Unable to ambulate (with or without an assistive device)

Study & Design

• Study Type: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Design: Not specified

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Experimental group	Graded Motor Imagery	A convenience sample of older adults (65 and older).

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Nerve Sensitivity Dorsum of Right Foot	Assessed before and immediately after treatment	Change (from before treatment to immediately after treatment) in Pain Pressure Threshold (PPT) on dorsum of right foot (in pounds)
Lower extremity pain rating	self-reported, change from before to immediately after treatment	Change (from before treatment to immediately after treatment) in pain for the lower extremity using the numeric pain rating scale (NPRS - 0 to 10 where 0 = no pain and 10 + maximum pain)
Laterality Speed	tested for 60 seconds before and immediately after treatment	Change (from before treatment to immediately after treatment) in speed of foot recognition using Recognize (TM) (speed in seconds to recognize each of 40 images as right or left foot)
Laterality Accuracy	tested for 60 seconds before and immediately after treatment	Change (from before treatment to immediately after treatment) in accuracy of foot recognition using Recognize (TM) (percent accurately correctly identified as right or left foot of those 40 images)
Nerve Sensitivity Dorsum of dominant hand	Assessed before and immediately after treatment	Change (from before treatment to immediately after treatment) in Pain Pressure Threshold (PPT) on dorsum of web space of dominant hand (in pounds)
Nerve Sensitivity Dorsum of Left Foot	Assessed before and immediately after treatment	Change (from before treatment to immediately after treatment) in Pain Pressure Threshold (PPT) on dorsum of left foot (in pounds)
Balance / fall risk	Assessed before and immediately after treatment	Change (from before treatment to immediately after treatment) in Brief-BESTest (6 task subsets to assess static and dynamic balance) (0 - 15 scale where 0 - lowest score / unstable and 15 = highest / no balance issues)

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

St. Ambrose University; 🇺🇸 Davenport, Iowa, United States