Alzheimer DiseaseSTADNCT05205980
Perturbation Training Reduces Falls in People With Alzheimer's Disease (AD)
A study testing Perturbation training in people with Alzheimer Disease, run by Georgia State University at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
This study will examine the overall capacity of people with Alzheimer's disease learning fall-resistant skills from perturbation training. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 65 to 90 years
- Conditions the study is for
- Alzheimer Disease
- What is being tested?
- Perturbation training
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- Yes, some participants may receive a placebo
- How many people
- 30 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- 28 Apr 2023to 30 Oct 2026
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 65 to 90 years
- All sexes
- No healthy volunteers
- Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Participants must be at least 65 years old;
- Participants have a clinical diagnosis of probable AD;
- Participants can read and understand English;
- Participants must be able to walk independently at least 25 feet;
- Participants must be able to stand independently for at least 30 seconds;
- Participants must have a Montreal Cognitive Assessment score of 11-21 or Mini Mental Status Examination score between 18 and 23.
Who cannot join
- Individuals have ever experienced perturbation training;
- Individuals have hypotension or uncontrolled hypertension;
- Individuals exhibit osteoporosis;
- Participants suffer from coexisting psychiatric disorders, or other neurological conditions, or injuries, etc.
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
United States1 site, 1 recruiting
- Recruiting
Reminiscent
Valdosta, Georgia, 31602
Debra Tann, Ed.D., 229-415-3333
About this study
Official title: Motor Learning of Fall Resistant Skills From Laboratory-induced Falling Among People With Mild Alzheimer's Disease
This study will examine the overall capacity of people with Alzheimer's disease learning fall-resistant skills from perturbation training.
Read the detailed description
Falls can cause injury and death in older adults. Those with Alzheimer's disease are at an even higher fall risk. Our goal is to test if people with mild Alzheimer's disease can learn fall prevention skills from the exposure to large-scale perturbations on a treadmill. Two groups with mild Alzheimer's disease will be enrolled. One group will attend a perturbation training session while the other group receives no training. Groups will then be exposed to perturbations on the ground immediately and three or six months after the training. Over six months after the training, daily-living falls will be tracked for both groups. The falls following the perturbations in the lab and daily-living all-cause falls will be compared between groups to test our specific aims: 1) to test if people with Alzheimer's disease can adapt to large-scale external perturbations and learn fall resistant motor skills; 2) to inspect whether people with Alzheimer's disease can retain motor skills learned in Aim 1; and 3) to determine if people with Alzheimer's disease can generalize fall resistant skills to different contexts (treadmill to overground, inside the lab to outside the lab).
- Conditions
- Alzheimer Disease
- Being tested
- Perturbation training
- Medical subject headings
- Alzheimer Disease
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Perturbation trainingBehavioural
Participants will experience repeated perturbations mixed with non-perturbed trials on the treadmill with the protection by a harness.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Training group | Experimental | This arm will receive a single-session perturbation training treatment on a treadmill under the protection of a safety harness. Receives: Behavioral: Perturbation training |
| Control group | Sham comparator | This arm will not receive perturbation training but will go through harnessed walking on the same treadmill for the same time as the other group. Receives: Behavioral: Perturbation training |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Lab-induced faller rate
The outcome of each perturbation trial will be determined as a fall if the peak load cell force exceeds 30% of the body weight. The load cell records the force applied to the human body by the safety harness system after a perturbation. The lab-induced faller rate will be calculated as the ratio of the number of fallers to the number of participants within each group.
Measured: 6 months
Secondary outcomes (2)
Dynamic stability
Dynamic stability will be calculated for each perturbation trial based on the kinematics of the body's center of mass relative to the base of support.
Measured: 6 months
Number of prospective fall incident
The number of all cause falls in daily-living activities after the training session will be recorded for each participant.
Measured: 6 months
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted25 Jan 2022
- Study start28 Apr 2023
- Primary completion30 Oct 2026 (estimated)
- Study completion30 Oct 2026 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Alzheimer DiseaseStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Prevention
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Single blind
- Who is masked
- Outcomes assessor
- Enrolment
- 30 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Georgia State University
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Institutes of Health (NIH), Alzheimer's Association
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Feng Yang, PhD, Georgia State University
- Investigators
- Feng Yang, PhD, Principal investigator, Georgia State University
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT05205980
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- H22487
- Acronym
- STAD
- Status last verified
- Feb 2026
- First submitted
- 15 Dec 2021
- Last updated
- 4 Feb 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- Yes
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 4 Feb 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Motor Learning of Fall Resistant Skills From Laboratory-induced Falling Among People With Mild Alzheimer's Disease
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT05205980
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- STAD / H22487
- Conditions
- Alzheimer Disease
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Recruiting
- Enrolment
- 30 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- Georgia State UniversityUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Institutes of Health (NIH), Alzheimer's Association
- Study start
- 28 Apr 2023 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 30 Oct 2026 (estimated)
- Study completion
- 30 Oct 2026 (estimated)
- First posted
- 25 Jan 2022 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
This study will examine the overall capacity of people with Alzheimer's disease learning fall-resistant skills from perturbation training.
Detailed description
Falls can cause injury and death in older adults. Those with Alzheimer's disease are at an even higher fall risk. Our goal is to test if people with mild Alzheimer's disease can learn fall prevention skills from the exposure to large-scale perturbations on a treadmill. Two groups with mild Alzheimer's disease will be enrolled. One group will attend a perturbation training session while the other group receives no training. Groups will then be exposed to perturbations on the ground immediately and three or six months after the training. Over six months after the training, daily-living falls will be tracked for both groups. The falls following the perturbations in the lab and daily-living all-cause falls will be compared between groups to test our specific aims: 1) to test if people with Alzheimer's disease can adapt to large-scale external perturbations and learn fall resistant motor skills; 2) to inspect whether people with Alzheimer's disease can retain motor skills learned in Aim 1; and 3) to determine if people with Alzheimer's disease can generalize fall resistant skills to different contexts (treadmill to overground, inside the lab to outside the lab).
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Prevention
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Single blind (outcomes assessor)
- Number of arms
- 2
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Training group | Experimental | Behavioral: Perturbation trainingThis arm will receive a single-session perturbation training treatment on a treadmill under the protection of a safety harness. |
| Control group | Sham comparator | Behavioral: Perturbation trainingThis arm will not receive perturbation training but will go through harnessed walking on the same treadmill for the same time as the other group. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 65 to 90 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Age groups
- Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (6 listed)
- Participants must be at least 65 years old;
- Participants have a clinical diagnosis of probable AD;
- Participants can read and understand English;
- Participants must be able to walk independently at least 25 feet;
- Participants must be able to stand independently for at least 30 seconds;
Key exclusion criteria (4 listed)
- Individuals have ever experienced perturbation training;
- Individuals have hypotension or uncontrolled hypertension;
- Individuals exhibit osteoporosis;
- Participants suffer from coexisting psychiatric disorders, or other neurological conditions, or injuries, etc.
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Perturbation trainingParticipants will experience repeated perturbations mixed with non-perturbed trials on the treadmill with the protection by a harness. | Behavioural | Control group, Training group |
Primary outcome
Lab-induced faller rate
Time frame: 6 months
The outcome of each perturbation trial will be determined as a fall if the peak load cell force exceeds 30% of the body weight. The load cell records the force applied to the human body by the safety harness system after a perturbation. The lab-induced faller rate will be calculated as the ratio of the number of fallers to the number of participants within each group.
2 secondary outcomes
Dynamic stability
Time frame: 6 months
Number of prospective fall incident
Time frame: 6 months
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 4 Feb 2026.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part.
Feng Yang, PhD principal investigator
Georgia State University
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Perturbation training in people with Alzheimer Disease, run by Georgia State University at 1 site in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 6 inclusion and 4 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: looking for participants now, as of the sponsor's last update on 4 Feb 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. Some participants in this study may receive a placebo. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
Contact Feng Yang, PhD (404-413-8357, fyang@gsu.edu), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Lab-induced faller rate (time frame: 6 months). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 4 Feb 2026; AzTrials last refreshed its copy on 7 Nov 2026.