Fall Prevention in Mild Cognitive Impairment (NEUROFALL)

April 3, 2026 updated by: VA Office of Research and Development

Fall Prevention in Cognitively Impaired Older Veterans Through Neurophysiological Rehabilitation

Falls represent the leading cause of hospitalization, nursing home admissions, disability and mortality for older adults with annual healthcare costs over $50 billion. Older Veterans with cognitive impairment are at an increased risk of falls and injurious fall. The purpose of this study is to test the effects of 6 weeks of a virtual tele-neurorehabilitation intervention on fall prevention, functional mobility, strength, cognition and performance of activities of daily living. Participants will be one of 28 participants in the VA Maryland Health Care System. Participation in the study is voluntary and the research will be conducted at the VA Maryland Health Care System. The entire study will take approximately 2 years to complete. Subject's participation in the study will last 3 months.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Falls represent the leading cause of hospitalization, nursing home admissions, disability and mortality for older adults with annual healthcare costs over $50 billion. Older Veterans with cognitive impairment are at an increased risk of falls and injurious fall. This pilot aims to determine the feasibility and effectiveness of a virtual neurorehabilitation intervention to improve functional mobility, strength, cognition and performance of activities of daily living in a cohort of 28 older Veterans with cognitive impairment. The overall goals are to improve fall risk in a population for which traditional rehabilitation programs may not be feasible. The investigators envision a neurorehabilitation model that can be readily exportable and widely implemented at other VA facilities with minimal resources as an enhancement to clinical care for fall prevention.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

28

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 Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Maryland
      • Baltimore, Maryland, United States, 21201
        • Baltimore VA Medical Center VA Maryland Health Care System, Baltimore, MD
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Alyssa D Stookey, PhD MS

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:

  • community dwelling
  • at risk for falls as indicated by answering yes to one of the following: 1) have you fallen in the last year? 2) four square step test time > 15 seconds 3) are you worried about falling?
  • cognitive impairment as indicated by either 1) clinical diagnosis 2) MOCA score of 10-25
  • able to provide written consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  • MOCA <10 or clinically diagnosed dementia
  • inability to participate in a virtual intervention
  • serious visual or hearing problems
  • stroke with hemiparesis or severe neurological disease
  • current use of medications affecting mental state
  • current active participation in programs related to balance or mobility

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

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Group
There will be no group assignments in this pilot study and all participants will receive the intervention.
Behavioral: Virtual Neurophysiological Rehabilitation
Combining active observation (AO) and motor imagery (MI)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Program Adherence
Time Frame: 6 weeks
Number of sessions attended
6 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Four Square Step Test time
Time Frame: 6 weeks
Time to complete the Four Square Step Test
6 weeks
Change in 30 second chair stand test
Time Frame: 6 weeks
Number of unassisted chair rises completed in 30 seconds
6 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

VA Office of Research and Development

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Alyssa D Stookey, PhD MS, Baltimore VA Medical Center VA Maryland Health Care System, Baltimore, MD

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 (Estimated)

June 1, 2027

Primary Completion (Estimated)

June 1, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

June 1, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 27, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 27, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

April 2, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 9, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 3, 2026

Last Verified

April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • RRD6-001-25M
  • 1I21RD000591-01A1 (Other Grant/Funding Number: Department of Veterans Affairs)

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

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

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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