Nordic Walking as Gait Training for Frail Elderly

NCT00805220 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: PHASE2 · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 30

Last updated 2009-09-02

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

The elderly are the fastest growing proportion of the population. Ageism implies a decline of physical functions affecting functional and safe ambulation. Based on the ICF model intervening in walking capacity could have favourable impact on quality of life of frail elders. Over ground walking training is indicated as a possible exercise. However, to achieve positive results on walking capacity, an exercise-dose response is needed. A more intensive way of promoting walking training is to add skiing poles while walking, a technique called Nordic Walking (NW). This study will be the first to compare NW with usual walking training. It aims to estimate for frail elderly the relative efficacy in improving functional walking capacity of two gait training strategies: NW and usual walking training and explore its impact on fear of falling. This study hypothesized that participants receiving Nordic Walking will walk longer, faster and fear less. NW if proven effective will positively impact on the functional capacities and quality of life of frail elders and provide an more intense method of walking training.

Conditions

  • Frail Elderly

Interventions

OTHER

Nordic Walking

Walking training with and without poles will be twice a week. The sessions last 20 minutes each and consist of walking, stretching and mobility exercises. This will last 8 weeks in a total of 16 sessions. A therapist will closely monitor your exercises and modify them according to your needs and comfort

Sponsors & Collaborators

Principal Investigators

  • Nancy Mayo, BSc MSc PhD · McGill University

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
65 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2008-12-31
Primary Completion
2009-06-30
Completion
2009-08-31

Countries

  • Canada

Study Locations

More Related Trials

Entities

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT00805220 on ClinicalTrials.gov