Reactive Balance Training and Fitness
Key facts
- Who runs it
- Toronto Rehabilitation Institute
- Where
- Canada1 site in 1 countryChoose a country to see its sites
- Trial code
- Status
- Terminated
- People taking part
- 28 people enrolled
- Started
- 1 Sept 2019
- Ended
- 16 May 2025
- Type of study
- Interventional, 2 groupsOne group gets an existing treatment, for comparison.
- Treatments tested
- Reactive balance training
- Aerobic and strength training (AST)
- Record updated
- 9 September 2025
- Why it stopped
- Insufficient accrual
Who can take part
- Age
- 18 years and older
- Sex
- Women and men
- Healthy volunteers
- Cannot take part
The registry criteria, word for word
Show all 15 criteriaShow less
Who can take part
- Community-dwelling adults with chronic stroke (>6 months post-stroke)
- Able to stand independently without upper-limb support for >30 seconds
- Able to tolerate at least 10 postural perturbations while wearing a safety harness
Who cannot take part
- Significant exercise participation: current physical activity levels that meet the recommended guidelines (at least 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous or at least 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity/week) as calculated using the moderate and vigorous components of the Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire (LTEQ) in the month prior to starting the study
- Received perturbation training at Toronto Rehab <1 year previously
- Other neurological condition that could affect balance control (e.g., Parkinson's disease)
- Recent (last 6 months) significant illness, injury or surgery
- Severe uncontrolled hypertension, or uncontrolled diabetes
- Contraindications to exercise testing, such as symptomatic aortic stenosis, complex life-threatening arrhythmias, unstable angina, or orthostatic blood pressure decrease of >20 mmHg with symptoms
- Acute or chronic illness or injury likely to be exacerbated by exercise (e.g., recent lower-extremity fracture)
- >2.1m tall and/or weighing >150kg (limits of the safety harness system)
- Lower extremity amputation
- Cognitive, language or communication impairments affecting understanding instructions
- Severe osteoporosis, defined by diagnosis of osteoporosis with fracture
- Currently attending in- or out-patient physiotherapy, in which they receive aerobic training, balance training or strength training for lower limb
This trial has no sites in United States.
It has sites in one country. Choose a country to see its sites.
About the trial
What the trial wants to find out
People with stroke should exercise to maintain function and reduce the risk of another stroke. Different types of exercise target different components of fitness, such as aerobic, strength, and balance. Post-stroke exercise guidelines exist for each type of exercise separately (eg, brisk walking as aerobic exercise, resistance training for strength, and Tai Chi for balance). Meeting these recommendations means spending a lot of time exercising, and people with stroke say that lack of time and fatigue are barriers to exercise. It is possible to target several components of fitness with one type of exercise.
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'Reactive balance training' (RBT) is a type of exercise that improves control of reactions that are needed to prevent a fall after losing balance, and is the only type of exercise with potential to prevent falls in daily life post-stroke. Because RBT involves repeated whole-body movements it may have similar aerobic benefit as other exercises using whole-body movements (eg, brisk walking). Also, leg muscles need to generate a lot of force to make rapid steps in RBT; repeatedly generating this force may help to improve strength.
The purpose of this study is to determine if RBT improves two important components of fitness among people with chronic stroke: aerobic capacity and strength. The investigators expect that the improvements in aerobic capacity and strength after RBT will not be any worse than after an exercise program that specifically targets aerobic fitness and strength. A secondary purpose of this study is to determine the effects of RBT compared to aerobic and strength training on balance control and balance confidence. The investigators expect that RBT will lead to greater improvements in balance control and balance confidence than an aerobic and strength training program.
The 2 groups in the trial
- Reactive balance trainingTreatment being tested
- Aerobic and strength trainingExisting treatment, for comparison
Treatment: Aerobic and strength training (AST)
Data and sources
- Registry record
- Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Official title
- Effect of Reactive Balance Training on Physical Fitness Post-stroke
- Record updated
- 9 September 2025