Effect of Tailored Core Stability Programs in Older Adults

NCT07315321 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: TI2018-098893-BI00
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 57
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The increase in life expectancy, together with the high levels of physical inactivity in the population over 65 years of age, has generated a significant reduction in the quality of life of elderly people, characterized by the increase in functional dependence and risk of falling. In this sense, falls in this population are a serious public health problem, as they can cause fractures that not only exacerbate functional deterioration but can also lead to death. The current literature shows that low muscle strength and poor trunk stability, caused by aging, are associated with low balance levels and consequently with an increased risk of suffering a fall. Thus, there are many studies that have tried to develop trunk muscle conditioning programs as a preventive tool to improve balance, gait and functional mobility in older people. However, these exercise programs have not always shown as positive results as would be expected. One of the main reasons that could explain the heterogeneity of these results is the lack of valid and reliable protocols to objectively measure the intensity of trunk stabilization exercises. This makes trunk training program control and individualization difficult and hinders the proper dose-response characterization of these programs in older people. Therefore, this project aims to develop new protocols based on low cost and easy to use tools to objectively assess trunk stabilization exercise intensity/difficulty in any sports, geriatric or research facility. This would allow: to perform individualized trunk exercise programs to develop balance, reduce the risk of suffering a fall and improve the quality of life in older people; to increase the replicability of these training programs; and to facilitate, in the future, the establishing of dose/response relationships.

Conditions

Core Stability

Keywords

intensity; smartphone; balance; older adults; functional mobility; core stability; postural control

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (4)

• Mean radial error of center of pressure in sitting and tandem condition

  Postural control in sitting condition over an unstable seat evaluated through the mean radial error of center of pressure displacement

  Baseline - 6 weeks

• Pelvis mean acceleration

  Pelvis mean acceleration in different isometric stabilization exercises measured with a smartphone accelerometer

  Time Frame: Baseline - every 2 weeks up to 6 weeks

• Functional mobility

  Time in Timed Up and Go Test

  Baseline - 6 weeks

• Balance and gait under different conditions

  A smartphone app was used to analyze performance on both outcomes.

  Baseline-6 weeks

Study Arms (3)

Experimental: Low Intensity training group

EXPERIMENTAL

Low Intensity training group will complete a 6 week core stability training program with low intensity/oscillation exercises

Other: Core stability training

Experimental: High Intensity training group

EXPERIMENTAL

High Intensity training group will complete a 6 week core stability training program with high intensity/oscillation exercises

Other: Core stability training

No Intervention: Control group

NO INTERVENTION

Control group will have 6 weeks with no intervention before post-test

Interventions

Core stability training OTHER

This intervention includes an individualized core stability training in older adults

Also known as: TI2018-098893-BI00

Experimental: High Intensity training group; Experimental: Low Intensity training group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 65 Years - 80 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• People between 65-80 years of age
• Independent walking
• Habitual residence in the province of Alicante
• People without osteoporosis, sarcopenia and/or fragility
• Physical active people.

You may not qualify if:

• Having a history of cardiorespiratory, musculoskeletal or any other type of alterations that contraindicate the practice of physical exercise
• The existence of any type of spinal pathology or low back pain during the study or in the 12 months prior to the study
• Having undergone abdominal or lumbar surgery
• Presenting any osteo-articular and/or muscle-tendon pathology that could be aggravated by the different exploratory tests proposed

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Universidad Miguel Hernandez de Elche: lead

Study Sites (1)

Biomechanics laboratory of Universidad Miguel Hernandez de Elche

Elche, Alicante, 03202, Spain

Location

Related Publications (2)

• Heredia-Elvar JR, Juan-Recio C, Prat-Luri A, Barbado D, Vera-Garcia FJ. Observational Screening Guidelines and Smartphone Accelerometer Thresholds to Establish the Intensity of Some of the Most Popular Core Stability Exercises. Front Physiol. 2021 Oct 22;12:751569. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2021.751569. eCollection 2021.

  PMID: 34744790 BACKGROUND

• Barbado D, Irles-Vidal B, Prat-Luri A, Garcia-Vaquero MP, Vera-Garcia FJ. Training intensity quantification of core stability exercises based on a smartphone accelerometer. PLoS One. 2018 Dec 5;13(12):e0208262. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0208262. eCollection 2018.

  PMID: 30517171 BACKGROUND

Study Officials

• Francisco J Vera Garcia, Professor

  Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: DOUBLE
• Who Masked: INVESTIGATOR, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: December 18, 2025
• First Posted: January 2, 2026
• Study Start: January 7, 2022
• Primary Completion: December 23, 2022
• Study Completion: December 23, 2022
• Last Updated: January 2, 2026

Record last verified: 2025-12

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP, ICF, CSR, ANALYTIC CODE
• Time Frame: Data will be available six months after publication
• Access Criteria: Data access requests will be reviewed by an external Independent Review Panel. Requestors will be required to sign a Data Access Agreement

Locations

ES (1)