Effect of Observation Plus Imagination of Gait on Stride Variability in Young and Older Adults (OBI)

The aim of study is to examine the combined effect of observation and imagination of gait on stride time variability of stride time among in healthy young and older adults.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Gait Variability; Elders; Fall; Re-education
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Observation & imagination; Other: Reading

Detailed Description

JUSTIFICATION :

• In geriatric rehabilitation, gait reeducation, especially after a fall, is often encountered at the very beginning, to the inability to walk again. The main reasons are poorly controlled pain, immobilisations of a segment or the entire lower limb and adaptation to certain prostheses after fracture. This delay in walking recovery leads briefly to acute postural disadaptation that exposes to multiple decubitus complications such as infections, bedsores and muscular atrophy. Conventional rehabilitation techniques are then difficult to implement because they are poorly adapted to the geriatric patients.
• Today, many experimental data suggest a functional equivalence between making a movement, imagining and observing it. These data can be used to support the development of new rehabilitation techniques. For example, mental imagery is used in the learning of complex movements in order to improve motor performance.
• Stride variability, and more specifically stride time variability was identified as the best marker of the automatic walking, a low variability corresponding to an automatic and safety gait.
• We hypothesize that the combined effect of observation and imagination of a gait using an imposed cadency cadency may reduce stride time variability of stride time in healthy young and older adults.

The secondary objectives of the study are as follows:

• To examine the combined effect of observation and imagination of a gait on mean value of spatio-temporal parameters in healthy young and older adults.
• To study the influence of age on the combined effect of observation and imagination of gait on mean value and coefficient of variation of spatio-temporal parameters in healthy young and older adults

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 60
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• France
  • Maine et Loire
    • Angers, Maine et Loire, France, 49933 cedex 9
      • Angers University Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 20 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age ≥ 20 years
• Able to walk without walking aid on 15 metres
• Written informed consent to participate in the study (or trustworthy person)
• Being affiliated to a social security regime

Exclusion Criteria:

• Osteoarticular pathologies of the lower limbs and / or spine altering the biomechanical characteristics of the body members.
• Ataxia
• History and / or progressive neuropsychiatric disorders.
• Score in the 4-items Geriatric Depression Scale > 1.
• Enrolment in another simultaneous clinical trial (Participation in a concomitant clinical trial.)
• Civil defense measures underway (Measures civil protection type trusteeship / guardianship / safeguarding justice in progress.)
• Refusal to participate

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Intervention; 15 young patients (<65 years old) and 15 older patients (>64 years old) are submitted to an observation phase and an imagination phase of walking at a precise rythm for 10 minutes	Other: Observation & imagination; It is a combination of an observation phase followed by an immediate imagination phase of a straight gait with an imposed cadency.
Active Comparator: Reading; 15 young patients (<65 years old) and 15 older patients (>64 years old) are submitted to a reading phase on a computer for 10 minutes.	Other: Reading; A 10 minutes reading phase of François Mauriac's "Therese Desqueyroux" on a computer

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Mean value of stride time variability	measured by the coefficient of variation (COV= standard deviation/Average) x 100.	this outcome is assessed at baseline and 10 minutes later.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Average value of all spatio-temporal gait parameters and age.		this outcome is assessed at baseline and 10 minutes later.
Clinical characteristics of participants	Age. Gender. Medical and surgical history. Age of acquisition of walking Practice of regular physical activity. Practice of sport. Personal characteristics: weight, size, height of the lower limbs. Number of different therapeutic classes taken per day. Proprioception of lower limb using a graduated diapason (normal maximum score of 8)	this outcome is assessed at baseline.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University Hospital, Angers

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: May 1, 2014
• Primary Completion (Actual): November 1, 2014
• Study Completion (Actual): November 1, 2014

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 12, 2014
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 17, 2014
• First Posted (Estimate): April 22, 2014

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): September 22, 2016
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 21, 2016
• Last Verified: March 1, 2014

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 2013-A00829-36