Effect of Ankle Splinting on Vascular Function in Aging

Completed · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Aging

In brief

Endothelial function of the skeletal muscle vasculature declines with advancing age. Although aerobic exercise training is commonly prescribed to combat loss of endothelial function in the elderly, the rate of compliance to training programs is low. Contrary to aerobic exercise training, stretching exercise is widely performed in elderly patients to increase muscle flexibility and to prevent muscle atrophy induced by immobilization. However, it remains unknown as to whether regular stretching of the calf muscles using ankle dorsiflexion splinting improves muscle blood flow. The purpose of the proposed work is to test the hypothesis that performance of ankle dorsiflexion splinting improves endothelial function and lower leg muscle blood flow in older adults. Ankle dorsiflexion splinting will be performed on the randomized leg for 30 minutes, 5 times per week for 4 weeks. Leg vascular measures will be performed on the splinted and non-splinted legs prior to and at the end of the 4-week intervention.

Key facts

Study ID
NCT02144896
Run by
University of Florida
People needed
17
Starts
2014-05-01
Expected to finish
2015-04-10
Last updated by the study team
2018-04-05

Who can join

Age: 60 and older, up to 79. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may qualify if…

You may not qualify if…

Where it is running

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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