Multidirectional Overground Robotic Training Leads to Improvements in Balance in Older Adults
For the rapidly growing aging demographic worldwide, robotic training methods could be impactful towards improving balance critical for everyday life. Here, we investigated the hypothesis that non-bodyweight supportive (nBWS) overground robotic balance training would lead to improvements in balance...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-08-01
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| Series: | Robotics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2218-6581/10/3/101 |
| _version_ | 1797517307764801536 |
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| author | Lara A. Thompson Mehdi Badache Joao Augusto Renno Brusamolin Marzieh Savadkoohi Jelani Guise Gabriel Velluto de Paiva Pius Suh Pablo Sanchez Guerrero Devdas Shetty |
| author_facet | Lara A. Thompson Mehdi Badache Joao Augusto Renno Brusamolin Marzieh Savadkoohi Jelani Guise Gabriel Velluto de Paiva Pius Suh Pablo Sanchez Guerrero Devdas Shetty |
| author_sort | Lara A. Thompson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | For the rapidly growing aging demographic worldwide, robotic training methods could be impactful towards improving balance critical for everyday life. Here, we investigated the hypothesis that non-bodyweight supportive (nBWS) overground robotic balance training would lead to improvements in balance performance and balance confidence in older adults. Sixteen healthy older participants (69.7 ± 6.7 years old) were trained while donning a harness from a distinctive NaviGAITor robotic system. A control group of 11 healthy participants (68.7 ± 5.0 years old) underwent the same training but without the robotic system. Training included 6 weeks of standing and walking tasks while modifying: (1) sensory information (i.e., with and without vision (eyes-open/closed), with more and fewer support surface cues (hard or foam surfaces)) and (2) base-of-support (wide, tandem and single-leg standing exercises). Prior to and post-training, balance ability and balance confidence were assessed via the balance error scoring system (BESS) and the Activities specific Balance Confidence (ABC) scale, respectively. Encouragingly, results showed that balance ability improved (i.e., BESS errors significantly decreased), particularly in the nBWS group, across nearly all test conditions. This result serves as an indication that robotic training has an impact on improving balance for healthy aging individuals. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T07:14:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cde251924b5d4f94a9343fde6b1f0551 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2218-6581 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T07:14:49Z |
| publishDate | 2021-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Robotics |
| spelling | doaj.art-cde251924b5d4f94a9343fde6b1f05512023-11-22T15:09:18ZengMDPI AGRobotics2218-65812021-08-0110310110.3390/robotics10030101Multidirectional Overground Robotic Training Leads to Improvements in Balance in Older AdultsLara A. Thompson0Mehdi Badache1Joao Augusto Renno Brusamolin2Marzieh Savadkoohi3Jelani Guise4Gabriel Velluto de Paiva5Pius Suh6Pablo Sanchez Guerrero7Devdas Shetty8Biomedical Engineering Program, Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, University of the District of Columbia, 4200 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20008, USADepartment of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, University of the District of Columbia, 4200 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20008, USADepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, University of the District of Columbia, 4200 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20008, USASchool of Engineering and Applied Sciences, University of the District of Columbia, 4200 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20008, USADepartment of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, University of the District of Columbia, 4200 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20008, USADepartment of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, University of the District of Columbia, 4200 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20008, USABiomedical Engineering Program, Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, University of the District of Columbia, 4200 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20008, USASchool of Engineering and Applied Sciences, University of the District of Columbia, 4200 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20008, USADepartment of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, University of the District of Columbia, 4200 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20008, USAFor the rapidly growing aging demographic worldwide, robotic training methods could be impactful towards improving balance critical for everyday life. Here, we investigated the hypothesis that non-bodyweight supportive (nBWS) overground robotic balance training would lead to improvements in balance performance and balance confidence in older adults. Sixteen healthy older participants (69.7 ± 6.7 years old) were trained while donning a harness from a distinctive NaviGAITor robotic system. A control group of 11 healthy participants (68.7 ± 5.0 years old) underwent the same training but without the robotic system. Training included 6 weeks of standing and walking tasks while modifying: (1) sensory information (i.e., with and without vision (eyes-open/closed), with more and fewer support surface cues (hard or foam surfaces)) and (2) base-of-support (wide, tandem and single-leg standing exercises). Prior to and post-training, balance ability and balance confidence were assessed via the balance error scoring system (BESS) and the Activities specific Balance Confidence (ABC) scale, respectively. Encouragingly, results showed that balance ability improved (i.e., BESS errors significantly decreased), particularly in the nBWS group, across nearly all test conditions. This result serves as an indication that robotic training has an impact on improving balance for healthy aging individuals.https://www.mdpi.com/2218-6581/10/3/101elderlyagingrehabilitation robotsassistive roboticssensory trainingfalls |
| spellingShingle | Lara A. Thompson Mehdi Badache Joao Augusto Renno Brusamolin Marzieh Savadkoohi Jelani Guise Gabriel Velluto de Paiva Pius Suh Pablo Sanchez Guerrero Devdas Shetty Multidirectional Overground Robotic Training Leads to Improvements in Balance in Older Adults Robotics elderly aging rehabilitation robots assistive robotics sensory training falls |
| title | Multidirectional Overground Robotic Training Leads to Improvements in Balance in Older Adults |
| title_full | Multidirectional Overground Robotic Training Leads to Improvements in Balance in Older Adults |
| title_fullStr | Multidirectional Overground Robotic Training Leads to Improvements in Balance in Older Adults |
| title_full_unstemmed | Multidirectional Overground Robotic Training Leads to Improvements in Balance in Older Adults |
| title_short | Multidirectional Overground Robotic Training Leads to Improvements in Balance in Older Adults |
| title_sort | multidirectional overground robotic training leads to improvements in balance in older adults |
| topic | elderly aging rehabilitation robots assistive robotics sensory training falls |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2218-6581/10/3/101 |
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