Home-based Motor Imagery for Gait Stability in Older Adults. A Cross-over Feasibility Study. (MIGS-F)

NCT02693756 | Unknown

• 1 other identifier: PHYVS2016-1
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 32
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Gait stability is reduced as early as from age 40 to 50. Gait stability can be improved in patients with neurological diseases or in healthy elderly persons with exercises. There is evidence that mental practice, also called motor imagery, the imagination of performing a movement, can also improve an activity or balance. The effective performance and the imagination of a task activates some overlapping central areas and neural networks, which might explain the improvements after motor imagery. The investigators set out to test the feasibility of such a study using an open label randomized cross-over trial including 32 persons aged 40 years or more. The primary aim is to evaluate whether the instructions are clear, the intervention and the study procedures are acceptable and to assess the proportion of participants withdraw from the study (drop outs). Secondary aims are the assessment of between group differences in the changes of the gait stability.

Conditions

Gait, Unsteady

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Composite Endpoint "feasibility"

  Combination of the following three parts: Part 1: one question about the understandability of the exercises Part 2: one question about the acceptability of the whole study process Part 3: Finishing the whole study: Did the participant finish the whole study, i.e. all three test sessions and at least some session of motor imagery exercises (based on the exercise calendar)?

  Immediately after the end of the both Intervention periods (week 6)

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Adherence to the motor imagery exercises

  Immediately after the end of the first intervention periods (week 3)

• Change in the Lyapunov Exponent in the three acceleration axes "anterio-posterior", "medio-lateral" and "vertical"

  Immediately after the end of the first period (week 3)

Study Arms (2)

Control

NO INTERVENTION

Participants will be allowed to perform all usual activities but should refrain from performing the motor imagery exercises.

Motor imagery

EXPERIMENTAL

The motor imagery intervention is a non-pharmacological and non-invasive treatment often used in sport, music, or physical rehabilitation (Schuster, Hilfiker et al. 2011). Proposed tasks to be imagined by the participants are for example: "Imagine you are walking on ice. During the first steps, you are slipping quite often, but as you walk on, your steps become more stable and you walk without problems over the ice. Try to imagine how you react when you slip on ice, how you try not to fall and to continue to walk normally" The motor imagery intervention will be performed independently by the study participants at home without supervision three times a week for three weeks.

Other: Motor imagery

Interventions

Motor imagery OTHER

The motor imagery intervention is a non-pharmacological and non-invasive treatment often used in sport, music, or physical rehabilitation (Schuster, Hilfiker et al. 2011). Proposed tasks to be imagined by the participants are for example: "Imagine you are walking on ice. During the first steps, you are slipping quite often, but as you walk on, your steps become more stable and you walk without problems over the ice. Try to imagine how you react when you slip on ice, how you try not to fall and to continue to walk normally" The motor imagery intervention will be performed independently by the study participants at home without supervision three times a week for three weeks.

Motor imagery

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 40 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• years old or older
• Able to walk bout 100 meter, with or without walking aids, but without the help of a person or an ambulator

You may not qualify if:

• Walking with an ambulator (Rollator)
• No able to understand German

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Applied Sciences of Western Switzerland: lead

Study Sites (1)

Hochschule für Gesundheit HES-SO Valais-Wallis

Leukerbad, Valais, 3954, Switzerland

RECRUITING

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Gait Disorders, Neurologic

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Neurologic Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Study Officials

• Roger Hilfiker

  School of Health Sciences, HES-SO Valais-Wallis

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Roger Hilfiker

CONTACT

0041 79 688 34 90; roger.hilfiker@hevs.ch

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: CROSSOVER
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Prof. Roger Hilfiker

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: February 7, 2016
• First Posted: February 29, 2016
• Study Start: February 1, 2016
• Primary Completion: June 1, 2021
• Study Completion: September 1, 2021
• Last Updated: August 6, 2019

Record last verified: 2019-08

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

CH (1)