Evaluating Stairway Designs for Individuals With Vision Impairment

Frequency of Contrast Enhancement on Stairways

The goal of this study is to learn if contrast frequency on step tread-edges influences foot clearance measures, a marker of fall risk, in older adults with and without visual impairments.

The main questions that aim to be answered are how foot clearance measures change across different frequencies of stair contrast, and how experiences and perceptions of different stair contrast frequencies are evaluated.

Researchers will compare individuals with and without visual impairments to see if contrast frequency on step tread-edges changes.

Participants will attend one visit during which their vision will be measured, and they will be asked to ascend and descend laboratory stairs at different contrast frequencies.

An optional second visit will entail a focus group meeting to better understand how contrast affects mobility in their home and everyday life.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Mobility Limitation; Vision, Low
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Frequency of contrast marking on stair steps

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 65
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Sara A Harper, PhD; Phone Number: 2568242184; Email: sah0075@uah.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • Alabama
    • Huntsville, Alabama, United States, 35899
      • Recruiting
      • University of Alabama in Huntsville
      • Contact: Sara A Harper, PhD; Phone Number: 2568242184; Email: sah0075@uah.edu

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. ≥ Contrast sensitivity log 1.6 or greater
2. travels independently in the community, including stairways > two times/week

3. comfortable ascending and descending a stairway with rest time provided

   Exclusion Criteria:

4. severe rheumatologic and or orthopedic diseases (e.g., awaiting joint replacement, active inflammatory disease)
5. lower-limb injuries and/or recent joint replacements (e.g., hip fracture, hip, or knee replacement within six months of study enrollment)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Intervention; All participants will participate in the experimental arm, that involves a factorial model approach inwhich all participants will experience all eight conditions.	Other: Frequency of contrast marking on stair steps; Frequency of contrast marking on stair steps will be evaluated to determine how foot clearance, perceptions in older adults with and without impaired contrast sensivity

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Toe clearance	Toe, foot vertical clearance on stair steps	visit 1, through study completion, an average of 1 year
Heel clearance	heel, foot horizontal clearance on stair steps	visit 1, through study completion, an average of 1 year
Frequency of <5mm toe clearances	how often <5mm toe clearances occur	visit 1, through study completion, an average of 1 year
Frequency of <5mm heel clearances	how often <5mm toe clearances occur	visit 1, through study completion, an average of 1 year

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Likert-Scale responses of contrast marking frequency conditions	5-point range from strongly dislike to strongly like	visit 1, through study completion, an average of 1 year
Perception responses of contrast marking frequency conditions	Collected via auditory responses	visit 1, through study completion, an average of 1 year

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: The University of Alabama in Huntsville
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Sara A Harper, PhD, University of Alabama in Huntsville

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 22, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): January 1, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): July 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 19, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 2, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): January 13, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 1, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 27, 2026
• Last Verified: January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: older adults; impaired contrast sensivity
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neurologic Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases; Eye Diseases; Vision Disorders; Sensation Disorders; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Signs and Symptoms; Vision, Low; Mobility Limitation
• Other Study ID Numbers: 0011

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: We will archive our deidentified metadata to the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR).
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: The IDP will be made available within 6 months after publication, and will be made publicly available for 3 years.
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: Access will be monitored through ICPSR.
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: STUDY_PROTOCOL; ANALYTIC_CODE

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No