# Testing the Dose-Response of Coordination Training for Older Adults

> **NIH NIH K01** · UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER · 2021 · $124,054

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
There is an urgent need for interventions to reduce mobility limitations that affect over 15 million older adults
and contribute to falls, disability, hospitalization and death. This K01 award will build upon Dr. James'
expertise in motor control with training in geriatric rehabilitation, mobility intervention development,
statistical methods and the conduct of randomized controlled trials. This training will give Dr. James the skills
to become an independent researcher developing interventions to decrease mobility limitations, disability and
falls in older adults. His multidisciplinary mentorship team, led by Jonathan Bean, MD, MPH
(K24HD070966), has extensive experience with NIH sponsored research, expertise in the targeted training
domains, mentoring new investigators, and is highly committed to Dr. James' development as a researcher.
Dr. James has identified novel impairments in rhythmic interlimb and gait coordination as strongly linked to
mobility among community-dwelling older adults. Currently, no treatment for limb coordination exists. Thus,
there is a great need to develop feasible, efficacious and safe rehabilitative interventions that address limb
coordination impairments and mobility limitations. In an effort to advance the development of treatments for
mobility limitations, the objective of the proposed research is to examine the dose-response of an innovative
intervention to improve coordination in community-dwelling older adults with mobility limitations. The
intervention uses a metronome to retrain coordination impairments that develop with age, and consists of
practice improving the coordination of the right and left: a) ankles; b) shoulders; and c) ankles and shoulders,
while lying supine, and d) the arms and legs during walking; by synchronizing movements with a metronome.
This project is innovative in that it will be the first to examine an intervention for interlimb and gait
coordination in older adults with mobility limitations. This project is significant in that the approach may offer
a cost-effective, clinically applicable, and efficacious means of reducing mobility limitations in older adults. We
will initially refine the intervention, and subsequently conduct a randomized trial of 2-, 4- and 8-week
intervention treatments vs. physical activity control with (N=120) community-dwelling older adults aged >70
years with mobility limitations. These treatment durations correspond to what rehabilitative care providers
would consider a short vs. medium vs. long duration (dose) of treatment. We will examine the magnitude and
duration of change in interlimb ankle coordination and gait coordination for each group. We will estimate the
coordination effect sizes for a minimal clinically important difference in mobility performance, and explore
changes in upper limb coordination and performance-based and self-reported mobility. This project will lead to
a randomized trial examining the intervention effects on...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10170182
- **Project number:** 5K01AG053461-05
- **Recipient organization:** UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Eric Guy James
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $124,054
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-15 → 2023-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10170182

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10170182, Testing the Dose-Response of Coordination Training for Older Adults (5K01AG053461-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10170182. Licensed CC0.

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