The Effects of Gait Training in Different Directions on Balance, Fear of Falling, and Lower Extremity Performance in Elderly Individuals
Overview
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Status
- Completed
- Sponsor
- Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University
- Enrollment
- 41
- Locations
- 1
- Primary Endpoint
- Balance
Overview
Brief Summary
Walking ability is important because it relates to independence in daily living activities, but this ability gradually decreases with age. Impairments in walking ability cause falls in geriatric individuals. Falls are the most common cause of injury in old age and can even result in death. Daily living activities involve walking in different directions such as walking forward, backward and sideways. In geriatric individuals, walking backward shows more impairment compared to walking forward. No study examining the effect of sideways walking training in geriatric individuals has been found in the literature.
Study Design
- Study Type
- Interventional
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Intervention Model
- Parallel
- Primary Purpose
- Treatment
- Masking
- None
Eligibility Criteria
- Ages
- 65 Years to — (Older Adult)
- Sex
- All
- Accepts Healthy Volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria
- •Being 65 years of age or older
- •Volunteering to participate in the study
- •Being able to speak and understand Turkish
Exclusion Criteria
- •Having any serious neurological, orthopedic, rheumatological, and cardiopulmonary diseases that could cause balance problems.
Arms & Interventions
Forward walking group
10 minutes of warm-up exercises, 15 minutes of strength and balance exercises, 18 minutes of forward walking, 5 minutes of cool-down exercises.
The 18-minute forward walking exercise was performed in 3 sets of 6 minutes each, allowing for 3-minute rest breaks. The intervention was conducted 2 days a week for 8 weeks, totaling 16 sessions.
Intervention: Exercise (Other)
Backward walking group
10 minutes of warm-up exercises, 15 minutes of strength and balance exercises, 18 minutes of backward walking, 5 minutes of cool-down exercises.
The 18-minute backward walking exercise was performed in 3 sets of 6 minutes each, allowing for 3-minute rest breaks. The intervention was conducted 2 days a week for 8 weeks, totaling 16 sessions.
Intervention: Exercise (Other)
Sideways walking group
10 minutes of warm-up exercises, 15 minutes of strength and balance exercises, 18 minutes of sideways walking, 5 minutes of cool-down exercises.
The 18-minute sideways walking exercise was performed in 3 sets of 6 minutes each, allowing for 3-minute rest breaks. The intervention was conducted 2 days a week for 8 weeks, totaling 16 sessions.
Intervention: Exercise (Other)
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Balance
Time Frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks
Individuals' balance levels were assessed using the 4-Square Step Test. Completion times were recorded in seconds.
Lower extremity performance
Time Frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks
Individuals' lower extremity performance was assessed using the Timed Up and Go Test.
Fear of falling
Time Frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks
Individuals' levels of fear of falling were assessed using the Modified Fall Efficacy Scale. The 14 items on the Modified Fall Efficacy Scale assess confidence when performing various daily tasks. Items on the scale are scored from 0 (not confident) to 10 (completely confident) to evaluate participants' levels of self-efficacy regarding falls. The total score is the average of the sum of all item scores. Lower scores indicate a high level of fear of falling.
Secondary Outcomes
No secondary outcomes reported
Investigators
Betül Söylemez
Lecturer, PT.MSc.
Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University