Backward Walking Rehabilitation to Prevent Falls in High-risk Adults Aged 75 Years and Older
Starting soon · Not applicable
Conditions studied: High Risk of Falling
In brief
Falls are a major health problem for people over 75 years old. Backward walking may strengthen the muscles of the legs, improve posture and balance, and make walking more stable, which could help prevent new falls and improve everyday movement. This is an open-label, multicenter, randomized controlled trial that will examine whether backward walking, integrated to usual rehabilitation in a geriatric day hospital program, can help reduce the number of new falls in older adult at high risk of falling. About 300 people aged over 75 years, living at home and at high risk of falling, will be included in this trial in 11 geriatric day hospitals in France. After receiving appropriate information, those who agree to participate will sign a written consent form and will then be randomly assigned to one of two groups. Both groups will receive standard rehabilitation care in the geriatric day hospital, with two rehabilitation sessions per week for 12 weeks. In the control group, patients will only receive usual care to prevent falls previously described above. In the intervention group, part of the usual care will be replaced, for 5 weeks, by supervised backward walking exercises, with the goal of doing two effective 10 minute backward walking sessions per week, without increasing the total time spent in rehabilitation. The trial will be conducted under the intention-to-treat principle. Participants will have a clinical visit at day 0, at week 5 and at 6 months, during which clinical information and data related to their usual care and to the study will be collected. All participants will be followed for a total of 12 months, with monthly phone calls from a study team member to record any new falls, hospitalizations, health problems, or other important events. For 10 patients in the intervention group, an individual interview will also be carried out at the 5 week visit to better understand their experience of backward walking. 2 focus groups will be held with 2 randomly selected centers to identify barriers and facilitators to the implementation of backward walking sessions. This study aims to determine whether adding backward walking to standard rehabilitation is a safe, acceptable and effective way to prevent falls in older adults at high risk of falling.
Key facts
- Study ID
- NCT07650097
- Run by
- Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris
- People needed
- 300
- Starts
- 2026-09-15
- Expected to finish
- 2029-03-15
- Last updated by the study team
- 2026-07-06
Who can join
Age: 76 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.
You may qualify if…
- People aged over 75
- Consultant at a geriatric day hospital
- At high risk of falling. High risk of falling is defined in accordance with the World guidelines for falls prevention and management for older adults: a global initiative. The patient must have at least one of the following characteristics:
- At least two falls in the last 12 months;
- A fall resulting in an injury requiring medical attention;
- Inability to get up unaided after a fall for at least one hour;
- Suspected syncope;
- Frailty (Clinical Frailty Scale ≥4)
- Able to walk on a treadmill (physically able and capable of understanding the physiotherapist's instructions)
- Able to understand and follow instructions from healthcare professionals
- Patient or guardian who has been informed about the study and has given their free, informed and written consent to participate
- Covered by a social security scheme (member or beneficiary) excluding Aide Médicale d'Etat (AME).
You may not qualify if…
- Acute medical condition incompatible with prolonged standing (at the inclusion visit)
- Estimated life expectancy of less than one year (at the inclusion visit)
- Participation in another interventional trial or being within the exclusion period following a previous trial, where applicable (at the inclusion visit)
- Balance disorders related to vestibular and cerebellar disorders (at the inclusion visit).
Where it is running
- Hôpital Charles-Foix — Ivry-sur-Seine, France
Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov
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