The Gait Training in Different Directions in Elderly Individuals

March 12, 2026 updated by: Betül Söylemez, Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University

The Effects of Gait Training in Different Directions on Balance, Fear of Falling, and Lower Extremity Performance in Elderly Individuals

Walking ability is important because it relates to independence in daily living activities, but this ability gradually decreases with age. Impairments in walking ability cause falls in geriatric individuals. Falls are the most common cause of injury in old age and can even result in death. Daily living activities involve walking in different directions such as walking forward, backward and sideways. In geriatric individuals, walking backward shows more impairment compared to walking forward. No study examining the effect of sideways walking training in geriatric individuals has been found in the literature.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

41

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

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

  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Being 65 years of age or older
  • Volunteering to participate in the study
  • Being able to speak and understand Turkish

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Having any serious neurological, orthopedic, rheumatological, and cardiopulmonary diseases that could cause balance problems.

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: Forward walking group

10 minutes of warm-up exercises, 15 minutes of strength and balance exercises, 18 minutes of forward walking, 5 minutes of cool-down exercises.

The 18-minute forward walking exercise was performed in 3 sets of 6 minutes each, allowing for 3-minute rest breaks. The intervention was conducted 2 days a week for 8 weeks, totaling 16 sessions.
Other: Exercise
In this intervention, in addition to the standard physiotherapy and rehabilitation program, an 18-minute forward walking exercise was performed.
Other Names:
  • physiotherapy and rehabilitation
  • geriatric rehabilitation
Other: Exercise
In this intervention, in addition to the standard physiotherapy and rehabilitation program, an 18-minute backward walking exercise was performed.
Other Names:
  • physiotherapy and rehabilitation
  • geriatric rehabilitation
Other: Exercise
In this intervention, in addition to the standard physiotherapy and rehabilitation program, an 18-minute sideways walking exercise was performed.
Other Names:
  • physiotherapy and rehabilitation
  • geriatric rehabilitation
Experimental: Backward walking group

10 minutes of warm-up exercises, 15 minutes of strength and balance exercises, 18 minutes of backward walking, 5 minutes of cool-down exercises.

The 18-minute backward walking exercise was performed in 3 sets of 6 minutes each, allowing for 3-minute rest breaks. The intervention was conducted 2 days a week for 8 weeks, totaling 16 sessions.
Other: Exercise
In this intervention, in addition to the standard physiotherapy and rehabilitation program, an 18-minute forward walking exercise was performed.
Other Names:
  • physiotherapy and rehabilitation
  • geriatric rehabilitation
Other: Exercise
In this intervention, in addition to the standard physiotherapy and rehabilitation program, an 18-minute backward walking exercise was performed.
Other Names:
  • physiotherapy and rehabilitation
  • geriatric rehabilitation
Other: Exercise
In this intervention, in addition to the standard physiotherapy and rehabilitation program, an 18-minute sideways walking exercise was performed.
Other Names:
  • physiotherapy and rehabilitation
  • geriatric rehabilitation
Experimental: Sideways walking group

10 minutes of warm-up exercises, 15 minutes of strength and balance exercises, 18 minutes of sideways walking, 5 minutes of cool-down exercises.

The 18-minute sideways walking exercise was performed in 3 sets of 6 minutes each, allowing for 3-minute rest breaks. The intervention was conducted 2 days a week for 8 weeks, totaling 16 sessions.
Other: Exercise
In this intervention, in addition to the standard physiotherapy and rehabilitation program, an 18-minute forward walking exercise was performed.
Other Names:
  • physiotherapy and rehabilitation
  • geriatric rehabilitation
Other: Exercise
In this intervention, in addition to the standard physiotherapy and rehabilitation program, an 18-minute backward walking exercise was performed.
Other Names:
  • physiotherapy and rehabilitation
  • geriatric rehabilitation
Other: Exercise
In this intervention, in addition to the standard physiotherapy and rehabilitation program, an 18-minute sideways walking exercise was performed.
Other Names:
  • physiotherapy and rehabilitation
  • geriatric rehabilitation

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Balance
Time Frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks
Individuals' balance levels were assessed using the 4-Square Step Test. Completion times were recorded in seconds.
From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks
Lower extremity performance
Time Frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks
Individuals' lower extremity performance was assessed using the Timed Up and Go Test.
From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks
Lower extremity performance
Time Frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks
Individuals' lower extremity performance was assessed using the Five Times Sit to Stand Test.
From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks
Fear of falling
Time Frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks
Individuals' levels of fear of falling were assessed using the Modified Fall Efficacy Scale. The 14 items on the Modified Fall Efficacy Scale assess confidence when performing various daily tasks. Items on the scale are scored from 0 (not confident) to 10 (completely confident) to evaluate participants' levels of self-efficacy regarding falls. The total score is the average of the sum of all item scores. Lower scores indicate a high level of fear of falling.
From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University

Collaborators

Pamukkale University

Investigators

  • Study Director: Nilufer Cetisli-Korkmaz, Prof.Dr., Pamukkale University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

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)

September 29, 2023

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 13, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

June 13, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 6, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 6, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

March 11, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 16, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 12, 2026

Last Verified

March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • E-60116787-020-287513
  • 1919B012301537 (Other Grant/Funding Number: Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TUBITAK))

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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