Slip-related falls often cause injury; these often have catastrophic consequences, even among the healthiest older persons. We have shown that, with motor training by repeated exposure to slips during walking, young adults are able to traverse a potential slipping hazard without losing their balance, regardless of whether a slip actually occurs or not. It is highly unlikely that these effects could be attributed to education or heightened awareness of the slipping threat alone. Furthermore, we have demonstrated that these improved motor skills acquired from a single session can be retained for at least 4-6 months upon re-testing, making such intervention highly attractive. Of greater interest, however, is the extent to which older adults can acquire and retain similar protective skills upon such training. This has not been tested to date. Also unknown is how potential confounding factors such as an older adult's functional status might interact with the training. These issues are of importance in that establishing a retainable prophylactic training regimen against slip-related falls would, without doubt, have major public health implications. In this study, we will demonstrate that older adults can significantly reduce their near-term risk of backward balance loss and falls through motor training by repeated exposure to simulated slips interspersed with no-slip trials. We will verify that awareness or observational learning alone cannot substitute for motor training through an awareness-control group. We will then determine the extent to which adaptive improvements are retained over the course of a year. Finally, we will verify that although a single slip exposure may yield some retainable effect, this intensity control group will exhibit significantly less favorable long-term effect on the control of center of mass stability, body weight support, balance loss and fall upon slipping than the motor training group with repeated slips. In addition, we expect that the intensity-control group will also have a higher self-reported incidence of falls during the 12-month period than the motor training group with multiple slip exposure. PUBLIC HEALTH REVELANCE: Slip-related falls often cause injury; these often have catastrophic consequences, even among the healthiest older persons. Establishing a retainable preventive training regimen against slip-related falls would, without doubt, have major public health implications. In this study, we will demonstrate that older adults can significantly reduce their near-term risk of backward balance loss and falls through motor training with multiple protected slip exposure, and such adaptive improvements from such prophylactic training regimen can be retained over the course of a year. ? ? ?

Public Health Relevance

Slip-related falls often cause injury;these often have catastrophic consequences, even among the healthiest older persons. Establishing a retainable preventive training regimen against slip-related falls would, without doubt, have major public health implications. In this study, we will demonstrate that older adults can significantly reduce their near-term risk of backward balance loss and falls through motor training with multiple protected slip exposure, and such adaptive improvements from such prophylactic training regimen can be retained over the course of a year.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
1R01AG029616-01A2
Application #
7515415
Study Section
Motor Function, Speech and Rehabilitation Study Section (MFSR)
Program Officer
Nayfield, Susan G
Project Start
2008-09-01
Project End
2013-08-31
Budget Start
2008-09-01
Budget End
2009-08-31
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2008
Total Cost
$318,539
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Illinois at Chicago
Department
Other Health Professions
Type
Schools of Allied Health Profes
DUNS #
098987217
City
Chicago
State
IL
Country
United States
Zip Code
60612
Wang, Shuaijie; Liu, Xuan; Lee, Anna et al. (2017) Can Recovery Foot Placement Affect Older Adults' Slip-Fall Severity? Ann Biomed Eng 45:1941-1948
Liu, Xuan; Reschechtko, Sasha; Wang, Shuaijie et al. (2017) The recovery response to a novel unannounced laboratory-induced slip: The ""first trial effect"" in older adults. Clin Biomech (Bristol, Avon) 48:9-14
Liu, Xuan; Bhatt, Tanvi; Wang, Shuaijie et al. (2017) Retention of the ""first-trial effect"" in gait-slip among community-living older adults. Geroscience 39:93-102
Liu, Xuan; Bhatt, Tanvi; Pai, Yi-Chung Clive (2016) Intensity and generalization of treadmill slip training: High or low, progressive increase or decrease? J Biomech 49:135-40
Lee, Anna; Bhatt, Tanvi; Pai, Yi-Chung (2016) Generalization of treadmill perturbation to overground slip during gait: Effect of different perturbation distances on slip recovery. J Biomech 49:149-54
Yang, Feng; Pai, Yi-Chung (2014) Adaptive control of center of mass (global) motion and its joint (local) origin in gait. J Biomech 47:2797-800
Yang, Feng; Pai, Yi-Chung (2014) Can sacral marker approximate center of mass during gait and slip-fall recovery among community-dwelling older adults? J Biomech 47:3807-12
Pai, Yi-Chung; Bhatt, Tanvi; Yang, Feng et al. (2014) Perturbation training can reduce community-dwelling older adults' annual fall risk: a randomized controlled trial. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 69:1586-94
Yang, Feng; Wang, Ting-Yun; Pai, Yi-Chung (2014) Reduced intensity in gait-slip training can still improve stability. J Biomech 47:2330-8
Yang, Feng; Pai, Yi-Chung (2014) Can stability really predict an impending slip-related fall among older adults? J Biomech 47:3876-81

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