Effect of Anti-gravity Treadmill Training After Total Hip Arthroplasty

September 5, 2025 updated by: Mirela Vuckovic, University of Rijeka
Background/Objectives: Total hip arthroplasty is one of the most common orthopedic procedures. When the surgery is successful and followed by high-quality physiotherapy, patients' quality of life usually improves and they return to their daily activities more qui-ckly.. Rehabilitation methods and medical devices are constantly evolving, to accelerate functional improvement. The aim of the study is to investigate the impact of the antigra-vity treadmill on the functional outcomes after total hip arthroplasty. Methods: A single centre, randomised, controlled, open label trial was conduct in Hospital for Medical Re-habilitation of the Heart and Lung Diseases and Rheumatism Thalassotherapia Opatija. 34 subjects were randomly divided into two groups: experimental (18) and control (16). The outcome measures included strength of the abductor muscles, range of motion, visual analogue scale, and Timed Up and Go test and 40-meter Fast Paced Walk test.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

34

Phase

  • 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 Locations

  • Croatia
      • Rijeka, Croatia, 51000
        • University Hospital Thalassotherapia Opatija

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

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • The inclusion criteria was primary osteoarthritis of the hip joint.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Exclusion criteria included: Undergoing surgery using a different technique, revision hip replacement, acute illness, cognitive impairment, and declining participation in the study.

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: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: experimental group (EG)
Each session included 25 minutes of individualized therapeutic exercises focused on bre-athing, mobility, strength, and balance. In addition, participants received 25 minutes of electrical stimulation of the quadriceps femoris muscle and 25 minutes of hydrotherapy in a swimming pool, for a total of 75 minutes of therapy per session. The experimental group (EG) also completed 20 minutes of daily exercise on an antigravity treadmill (ALTERG VIA, Lifeward CA, Inc., Milmont Drive, Fremont, CA, USA), supervised by a physiothera-pist
Device: antigravity treadmill (ALTERG VIA, Lifeward CA, Inc., Milmont Drive, Fremont, CA, U-SA)
Antigravity treadmill training in the experimental group (EG) involved walking in a straight line at a self-selected, com-fortable pace-without running, shortness of breath, or pain. The treadmill's chamber was set to reduce the participant's effective body weight to 20% of their actual body weight (slight unloading was applied to reduce the need for handrail support and to prevent the use of compensatory mechanisms).
No Intervention: control group (CG)
Each session inclu-ded 25 minutes of individualized therapeutic exercises focused on breathing, mobility, strength, and balance. In addition, participants received 25 minutes of electrical stimula-tion of the quadriceps femoris muscle and 25 minutes of hydrotherapy in a swimming pool, for a total of 75 minutes of therapy per session.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
hip abductor muscle strength
Time Frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment was 3 weeks.
The effects of the antigravity treadmill on hip abductor muscle strength was the primary outcome.
From enrollment to the end of treatment was 3 weeks.

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Rijeka

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)

January 15, 2023

Primary Completion (Actual)

July 30, 2023

Study Completion (Actual)

July 30, 2023

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 5, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 5, 2025

First Posted (Estimated)

September 12, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimated)

September 12, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 5, 2025

Last Verified

September 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • THR-2025

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

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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