The effect of cognitive-motor dual task training with the biorescue force platform on cognition, balance and dual task performance in institutionalized older adults: a randomized controlled trial.
Tom Delbroek, Wietse Vermeylen, Joke Spildooren
PMID 28744033WHAT IT FOUND
In older adults with mild cognitive impairment, six weeks of BioRescue dual-task training added to usual care shortened timed up-and-go total duration and turn-to-sit time, but did not improve cognition, Tinetti balance, or dual-task error rate.
Key findings
01In the intervention group, which received BioRescue training plus usual care, total iTUG duration improved from 17.2 seconds to 15.8 seconds.
02Cognition and Tinetti balance scores did not change over time in either group.
03Only 37.5% of intervention participants remembered to sit at baseline in the dual-task TUG, compared with 75% after training, but error rates and gait parameters did not improve.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Only 17 of the 20 randomized participants were analyzed, because two intervention participants stopped for medical conditions and one control participant could not be retested. The control group tended to receive more standard physical therapy than the intervention group, so any difference between groups may reflect usual care as well as BioRescue. The dual-task TUG produced missing data because many participants forgot to sit, so key dual-task timing could not be analyzed. Assessment timing during the day was not standardized, and older adults' abilities can vary within days. There was no follow-up period to see whether changes lasted. The sample was small and from one residential care center, and participants had to be able to walk 10 meters with an aid, so it says little about more dependent residents or people with dementia.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the improved iTUG times as proof that BioRescue training improves cognition or dual-task walking. The MoCA and Tinetti scores did not change, the dual-task error rate did not improve, and only 17 participants were analyzed.