Virtual Reality in Sedentary Adults With Hamstring Shortening

April 11, 2026 updated by: Nesma Morgan Allam, Cairo University

Impact of Virtual Reality on Flexibility, Muscle Strength and Gait Parameters in Sedentary Adults With Hamstring Shortening: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Tightness of hamstring muscle is known as a reduction in range of motion accompanied by a sensation of restriction in the posterior aspect of thigh. Numerous reasons can cause it, such as genetic susceptibility, compensatory tightness due to persistent abnormalities, and muscular strain. Tight hamstrings cause a small amount of knee flexion during exercise and require comparatively high quadriceps efforts to offset the hamstrings' passive resistance. This could result in knee joint pain that affects gait and raise the reaction forces at the patellofemoral joint.

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.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

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.
Interventional

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.
84

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

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 Locations

  • Egypt
      • Giza, Egypt
        • Faculty of Physical Therapy, Cairo University

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

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Sedentary adults with tightness of hamstring muscle with the degree of flexion for knee joint more than 20° throughout active knee extension (AKE) test.
  • Their age between 18 and 30 years.
  • BMI less than 30 kg/ m2 .
  • Sedentary lifestyle that includes sitting on the chair for long period of time for minimum 6 hours per day, 5 days/week for 6 months minimally.
  • Participants who did not engaged in a physiotherapy programs in the previous 6 months.
  • Absence of fractures, injuries or medications (such as analgesics or muscle relaxants) that may affect the results of the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Any neurological diseases (such as; severe disc prolapse and radiating pain).
  • Injury of hamstring in the previous 2 years.
  • History of knee injury.
  • Fracture in lower extremity or the spine.
  • Surgery in the spine.
  • Unequal leg length > 2cm.
  • Congenital deformity.
  • Orthopedic disorders such as patellofemoral pain syndrome, musculoskeletal pain, psychiatric problem.
  • Any systemic disease, hearing or visual deficits, cognitive, or cardiovascular complications, and pregnancy.

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

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Group A (Virtual reality group)
Participants will receive virtual reality (VR) in addition to the traditional physical therapy program 2 times/week for 5 weeks.
Device: Virtual reality
A five-minute warm-up, thirty minutes of intervention training, and a five-minute cool-down will all be included in each session. Five minutes of stretching and walking were part of the warm-up. Every participant will play five sports games (running, cool-running, catching gift, football, skate) during each session. These gamed can help teenagers to improve their physical strength, endurance, balance, and coordination. Every game lasted Five minutes.
Other: Traditional physical therapy programme
The exercise programme includes farmer walks, squats, calf raises, stretching exercises, and strengthening activities. The exercises will be performed in one or two sets of 15-20 repetitions, with a 60-second rest in between. The sets, repetitions, and loads will be increased as the participants advance, up to three sets of 60 repetitions for a perceived effort of 70%-80% of 1RM
Active Comparator: Group B (control group)
Participants will receive a traditional physical therapy program only, 2 times per week for 5 weeks.
Other: Traditional physical therapy programme
The exercise programme includes farmer walks, squats, calf raises, stretching exercises, and strengthening activities. The exercises will be performed in one or two sets of 15-20 repetitions, with a 60-second rest in between. The sets, repetitions, and loads will be increased as the participants advance, up to three sets of 60 repetitions for a perceived effort of 70%-80% of 1RM

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
Muscle strength
Time Frame: 5 weeks
Microfit hand-held dynamometer (HHD) will be used for assessment of hamstring muscle strength. Each participant will lie prone on a standard treatment table. In this position, the participant will be instructed to bend their knee to 90° of knee flexion, where the Microfet 2 MMT-Wireless HHD will be placed on the lower leg, and a downward force toward the table will be held for 5s while the participant resists the downward force. The participant will be instructed to use their maximum effort. It will be performed three times, and an average will be recorded.
5 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Active Knee Extension (AKE) Test
Time Frame: 5 weeks
A typical, double-arm, plastic goniometer with an arm length of 31.75 cm will be used to measure the AKE angle. With the stationary arm over the thigh and directed to the greater trochanter, and the moving arm over the leg and directed to the lateral malleolus, the goniometer's axis will be fixed over the lateral epicondyle of the femur. The participant will be asked to fully extend the knee of the dominant leg while relaxing their foot. To measure the AKE angle, which is the degree of knee flexion from the last knee extension, they will maintain this position for five seconds.
5 weeks
Step length
Time Frame: 5 weeks
A GAITRite® electronic walkway system, which includes a walkway with overall measurements of 90 cm × 7 m × 3.2 mm, will be used to assess gait metrics. A 9 m × 4 m laboratory space that is protected from light and noise will be used for the examination of step length. First, participants will be instructed to stand at the start line in an orthostatic position to adopt the start position. Following that, participants will be told to walk along the GAITRite® system's walkway at their own pace, pausing at the goal line.
5 weeks
Cadence
Time Frame: 5 weeks
A GAITRite® electronic walkway system, which includes a walkway with overall measurements of 90 cm × 7 m × 3.2 mm, will be used to assess gait metrics. A 9 m × 4 m laboratory space that is protected from light and noise will be used for the examination of cadence. First, participants will be instructed to stand at the start line in an orthostatic position to adopt the start position. Following that, participants will be told to walk along the GAITRite® system's walkway at their own pace, pausing at the goal line.
5 weeks
Velocity
Time Frame: 5 weeks
A GAITRite® electronic walkway system, which includes a walkway with overall measurements of 90 cm × 7 m × 3.2 mm, will be used to assess gait metrics. A 9 m × 4 m laboratory space that is protected from light and noise will be used for the examination of velocity. First, participants will be instructed to stand at the start line in an orthostatic position to adopt the start position. Following that, participants will be told to walk along the GAITRite® system's walkway at their own pace, pausing at the goal line.
5 weeks
Stride length
Time Frame: 5 weeks
A GAITRite® electronic walkway system, which includes a walkway with overall measurements of 90 cm × 7 m × 3.2 mm, will be used to assess gait metrics. A 9 m × 4 m laboratory space that is protected from light and noise will be used for the examination of velocity. First, participants will be instructed to stand at the start line in an orthostatic position to adopt the start position. Following that, participants will be told to walk along the GAITRite® system's walkway at their own pace, pausing at the goal line.
5 weeks

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.
Cairo University

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.
November 20, 2025

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.
March 28, 2026

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.
April 10, 2026

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).
November 14, 2025

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.
November 18, 2025

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.
November 20, 2025

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.
April 15, 2026

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.
April 11, 2026

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.
November 1, 2025

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.
  • 11328 (DAIDS ES)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL

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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