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Visual Training Program to Improve Balance and Prevent Falls in Older Adults
This study is currently recruiting participants.
Verified by Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, September 2008
Sponsors and Collaborators: Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
Information provided by: Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00549406
  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
Phase I

U.S. FDA Resources
Study Type: Interventional
Study Design: Treatment, Randomized, Single Blind (Outcomes Assessor), Placebo Control, Parallel Assignment, Efficacy Study
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

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 ]

Estimated Enrollment: 16
Study Start Date: June 2008
Estimated Study Completion Date: December 2009
Estimated Primary Completion Date: July 2009 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)
Arms Assigned Interventions
1: Experimental
computer-based visual-training program
Procedure: computerized visual training
two one-hour training sessions per week, for five consecutive weeks
2: Placebo Comparator
computerized word puzzles
Procedure: computerized word puzzles
two one-hour sessions per week, for five consecutive weeks

  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

Contacts
Contact: Sandra M McKay, PhD 416-480-5858 ext 3512 sandra.mckay@sri.utoronto.ca
Contact: Joanne LaFleur 416-480-55858 ext 3512 Joanne.LaFleur@sri.utoronto.ca

Locations
Canada, Ontario
Centre for Studies in Aging, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Recruiting
Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M4N 3M5
Contact: Sandra M McKay, PhD     416-480-6100 ext 3512     sandra.mckay@sri.utoronto.ca    
Contact: Joanne LaFleur     416-480-6100 ext 3512     joanne.lafleur@sri.utoronto.ca    
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

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

Responsible Party: Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre ( Dr Brian Maki, Director, Centre for Studies in Aging )
Study ID Numbers: 2007-PREV-INT-452, CIHR grant# MOP-13355
Study First Received: October 24, 2007
Last Updated: September 10, 2008
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00549406  
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 January 15, 2009