An Investigation of the Gait Performance and Balance in Yoga Instructors

August 29, 2023 updated by: Cheng-Hsin General Hospital
Yoga is a popular exercise and thought to be beneficial to many aspects such as mood, flexibility and balance, etc. Gait performance is a indicator of overall health and functional status. This study aims to investigate whether or not yoga instructors have a more symmetric gait pattern and better balance ability than healthy people without experience of performing Yoga. Inertial measurement units (IMUs) will be used to gather data related to gait symmetry and single leg stance balance. A comparison by four performance indexes related to gait symmetry and balance will be made to quantify the potential advantages of yoga practice.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Detailed Description

Yoga is a form of exercise with a focus on the structural alignment of the physical body. As Yoga movements involve a complex motion of core muscles and lower limb muscles, this exercise may be beneficial for gait stability. Gait performance is a sensitive indicator of overall health and functional status, and gait impairment can lead to a high risk of falling or diminished mobility. It was hypothesized that yoga instructors may have a more symmetric gait pattern and better balance ability than healthy non-yoga controls. Impact of yoga training on gait symmetry and single leg stance balance will be investigated. Twenty five yoga instructors and twenty five age/sex-matched healthy subjects will be recruited to conduct walking and static stability tests and these subjects' gait data and body movements will be measured during the experiments by attaching inertial measurement units (IMUs) to their lower limbs and trunks. Calculation of the subjects' asymmetry of swing phases during their gait cycles will be done to evaluate the gait performance. Afterwards, subjects will conduct four different one-leg stance tests. Two balance indexes will be defined and the recorded IMU data will be applied to evaluate the subjects' balance ability. Four performance indexes will then be defined to assess gait performance and single leg stance stability to quantify the potential advantages of yoga practice.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
50

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • Taiwan
      • Taipei, Taiwan, 112
        • Cheng Hsin General Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

25 years to 60 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Yoga instructor: active and highly experienced Yoga instructor

Healthy control: gender-matched healthy participants who had no experience with yoga training and participated in regular exercise 2 or 3 times a week

Description

[Yoga instructor]

Inclusion Criteria:

  • overall good health and can cooperate with orders reasonably
  • between the ages of 25 to 60 years old
  • practicing three to six days per week and at least ten years of experience in yoga

Exclusion criteria

  • limb or leg discrepancy
  • history of surgery on the lower limbs or spine
  • history of musculoskeletal injury over the lower back in the past six months

[Healthy control]

Inclusion Criteria:

  • overall good health and can cooperate with orders reasonably
  • between the ages of 25 to 60 years old
  • participated in regular exercise 2 or 3 times a week

Exclusion criteria

  • limb or leg discrepancy
  • history of surgery on the lower limbs or spine
  • history of musculoskeletal injury over the lower back in the past six months
  • experience of Yoga practicing

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Group / Cohort

A group or subgroup of participants in an observational study that is assessed for biomedical or health outcomes.
Yoga instructor
(a) overall good health and can cooperate with orders reasonably; (b) between the ages of 25 to 60 years old; (c) no limb or leg discrepancy; (d) no history of surgery on the lower limbs or spine; (e) no history of musculoskeletal injury over the lower back in the past six months; (f)practice yoga three to six days per week and at least ten years of experience in yoga
Healthy adult control
(a) overall good health and can cooperate with orders reasonably; (b) between the ages of 25 to 60 years old; (c) no limb or leg discrepancy; (d) no history of surgery on the lower limbs or spine; (e) no history of musculoskeletal injury over the lower back in the past six months; (f) no experience with yoga training; (g)participated in regular exercise 2 or 3 times a week

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Gait performance index of normal walk
Time Frame: within 1 month after recruitment
asymmetric level of the swing phases calculated by IMU when performing normal walk
within 1 month after recruitment
Gait performance index of Tandem gait with eyes open
Time Frame: within 1 month after recruitment
asymmetric level of the swing phases calculated by IMU when performing Tandem gait with eyes open
within 1 month after recruitment
Gait performance index of Tandem gait with eyes closed
Time Frame: within 1 month after recruitment
asymmetric level of the swing phases calculated by IMU when performing Tandem gait with eyes closed
within 1 month after recruitment
Open eye dominant foot standing balance indexes of chest
Time Frame: within 1 month after recruitment
absolute angular velocities obtained by chest IMU when standing on the dominant foot with eyes open
within 1 month after recruitment
Open eye dominant foot standing balance indexes of lumbar
Time Frame: within 1 month after recruitment
absolute angular velocities obtained by lumbar IMU when standing on the dominant foot with eyes open
within 1 month after recruitment
Closed eye dominant foot standing balance indexes of chest
Time Frame: within 1 month after recruitment
absolute angular velocities obtained by chest IMU when standing on the dominant foot with eyes closed
within 1 month after recruitment
Closed eye dominant foot standing balance indexes of lumbar
Time Frame: within 1 month after recruitment
absolute angular velocities obtained by lumbar IMU when standing on the dominant foot with eyes closed
within 1 month after recruitment
Open eye non-dominant foot standing balance indexes of chest
Time Frame: within 1 month after recruitment
absolute angular velocities obtained by chest IMU when standing on the non-dominant foot with eyes open
within 1 month after recruitment
Open eye non-dominant foot standing balance indexes of lumbar
Time Frame: within 1 month after recruitment
absolute angular velocities obtained by lumbar IMU when standing on the non-dominant foot with eyes open
within 1 month after recruitment
Closed eye non-dominant foot standing balance indexes of chest
Time Frame: within 1 month after recruitment
absolute angular velocities obtained by chest IMU when standing on the non-dominant foot with eyes closed
within 1 month after recruitment
Closed eye non-dominant foot standing balance indexes of lumbar
Time Frame: within 1 month after recruitment
absolute angular velocities obtained by lumbar IMU when standing on the non-dominant foot with eyes closed
within 1 month after recruitment

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Cheng-Hsin General Hospital

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
National Taiwan University

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Szu-Fu Chen, MD/PhD, Cheng-Hsin General Hospital

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
June 22, 2022

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
October 31, 2022

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
October 31, 2022

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
June 24, 2022

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
July 4, 2022

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
July 8, 2022

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
August 31, 2023

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
August 29, 2023

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
August 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • (929)111-08

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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