Vestibular Rehabilitation for Patients With Fall-related Wrist Fractures

Study Description

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Study Description Study Design Arms and Interventions Outcome Measures Eligibility Criteria Contacts and Locations More Information

Brief Summary:

Dizziness has been identified as a risk factor for fall and vestibular asymmetry has been found among patients with fall-related wrist fractures as well as among patients with hip-fracture. Since wrist fracture is a risk factor for hip-fracture, much effort is focused on preventing falls for risk-groups. Therefore, it would be interesting to find out if it is possible to influence vestibular asymmetry with vestibular rehabilitation.

The aim of this study is therefore to find out if vestibular rehabilitation can have any effect on vestibular function among patients with fall-related wrist fracture.

Condition or disease	Intervention/treatment	Phase
Wrist Fractures; Dizziness	Other: Vestibular rehabilitation	Not Applicable

Detailed Description:

Fall-related fractures are an increasing problem for the society. Almost 30% of persons over 65 years of age fall each year. In Sweden 627 persons out of 100 000 is treated in hospitals because of injury after a fall. In Malmö, the figure is 883 persons out of 100 000. However, not all falls lead to a fracture. Dizziness has been identified as a risk factor for fall and vestibular asymmetry has been found among patients with fall-related wrist fractures as well as among patients with hip-fracture.

Vestibular rehabilitation programs were first developed in the forties, originally used for peripheral vestibular disorder, in order to facilitate recovery. Modern research has widened the use of vestibular rehabilitation to patients with other causes of dizziness than peripheral vestibular disorders. Since wrist fracture is a risk factor for hip-fracture, much effort is focused on preventing falls for risk-groups. Therefore, it would be interesting to find out if it is possible to influence vestibular asymmetry with vestibular rehabilitation.

The aim of this study is therefore to find out if vestibular rehabilitation can have any effect on vestibular function among patients with fall-related wrist fracture.

Study Design

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Study Description Study Design Arms and Interventions Outcome Measures Eligibility Criteria Contacts and Locations More Information

Study Type :	Interventional (Clinical Trial)
Actual Enrollment :	82 participants
Allocation:	Randomized
Intervention Model:	Parallel Assignment
Masking:	Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary Purpose:	Treatment
Official Title:	Vestibular Rehabilitation for Patients With Fall-related Wrist Fractures - a Randomized Controlled Trial
Study Start Date :	March 2009
Actual Primary Completion Date :	February 2013
Actual Study Completion Date :	March 2014

Arms and Interventions

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Study Description Study Design Arms and Interventions Outcome Measures Eligibility Criteria Contacts and Locations More Information

Arm	Intervention/treatment
Experimental: Intervention group; Vestibular rehabilitation, twice a week for 9 weeks	Other: Vestibular rehabilitation; The intervention program comprises of vestibular rehabilitation, at group sessions, twice a week for 9 weeks. The program is described in detail in table 1. Vestibular rehabilitation aims to facilitate rearrangement and recruitment of the control capacities of the vestibular system, by letting the patient be exposed to unstable body positions, such as standing on foam and performing head, trunk or eye-movements.
No Intervention: Control group; The patients in the control group does nothing, except for normal treatment for their wrist fracture.

Outcome Measures

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Study Description Study Design Arms and Interventions Outcome Measures Eligibility Criteria Contacts and Locations More Information

Primary Outcome Measures :

1. Vestibular function measured by head shake test [ Time Frame: At baseline and at follow-up after 3 months ]

Secondary Outcome Measures :

1. Analyze of gait using electronic walkway [ Time Frame: At baseline and at follow up after 3 months ]

Eligibility Criteria

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Study Description Study Design Arms and Interventions Outcome Measures Eligibility Criteria Contacts and Locations More Information

Ages Eligible for Study:	50 Years and older (Adult, Senior)
Sexes Eligible for Study:	All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:	No

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• Fall-related wrist fracture
• 50 years or older

Exclusion Criteria:

• Younger than 50
• Wrist fracture not related to fall

Contacts and Locations

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Study Description Study Design Arms and Interventions Outcome Measures Eligibility Criteria Contacts and Locations More Information

Locations

Sweden
Lund University, Dep Clin Sci in Malmö/Family Practice
Malmö, Sweden, 205 02

Sponsors and Collaborators

Lund University

Investigators

Principal Investigator:	Eva Ekvall Hansson, PhD	Lund University

More Information

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Study Description Study Design Arms and Interventions Outcome Measures Eligibility Criteria Contacts and Locations More Information

Publications:

Kristinsdottir EK, Jarnlo GB, Magnusson M. Asymmetric vestibular function in the elderly might be a significant contributor to hip fractures. Scand J Rehabil Med. 2000 Jun;32(2):56-60.

Kristinsdottir EK, Nordell E, Jarnlo GB, Tjäder A, Thorngren KG, Magnusson M. Observation of vestibular asymmetry in a majority of patients over 50 years with fall-related wrist fractures. Acta Otolaryngol. 2001 Jun;121(4):481-5.

Hansson, EE. Vestibular Rehabilitation - for whom and how? Advances in Physiotherapy 9:106-116. 2007

Publications automatically indexed to this study by ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier (NCT Number):

Najafi DA, Dahlberg LE, Hansson EE. A combination of clinical balance measures and FRAX® to improve identification of high-risk fallers. BMC Geriatr. 2016 May 3;16:94. doi: 10.1186/s12877-016-0266-6.

Responsible Party:	Eva Ekvall Hansson, Associate professor, Lund University
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:	NCT00988572 History of Changes
Other Study ID Numbers:	Radius
First Posted:	October 2, 2009
Last Update Posted:	March 31, 2015
Last Verified:	March 2015

Keywords provided by Eva Ekvall Hansson, Lund University:

Wrist fractures; Vestibular asymmetry; Vestibular rehabilitation; Fall-related wrist fractures; Patients 50 years or older

Additional relevant MeSH terms:

Fractures, Bone; Dizziness; Wounds and Injuries; Sensation Disorders	Neurologic Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases; Signs and Symptoms