Effectiveness Study on a Virtual Reality Based Training System for Stroke Patients (YouGrabber)

April 6, 2016 updated by: PD Dr. Daniel Kiper, Reha Rheinfelden

Effectiveness of the YouGrabber System Using Virtual Reality in Stroke Rehabilitation: a Single Blinded, Randomised Controlled Multi-centre Trial

The patient study is a phase III trial designed as a single-blinded, randomised, controlled multi-centre trial with repeated measurement events (ME). Patients will be evaluated by a blinded assessor on five occasions: twice within two weeks at baseline before intervention start (BL, T0), once after eight treatment sessions (T1), once after the intervention (T2), and once after a two month follow-up period (FU). Figure 1 illustrates the study overview.

The study focuses on the evaluation of the YouGrabber efficacy compared to conventional therapy in an outpatient setting.

Research question: Do patients after stroke in the YouGrabber training group show higher postintervention performance in the Box and Block Test (BBT) compared to patients in the conventional therapy group? Hypothesis: H0: The investigators hypothesise that there will be no group differences after 16 training sessions or after the two month follow-up period.

H1: The investigators hypothesise that there will be a group difference after the 16 training sessions and after the two month follow-up period.

Aim: The aim of the project is to design and implement a single-blinded, randomised controlled multi-centre trial comparing YouGrabber training and conventional therapy in patients after stroke.

Patients will be randomly allocated to either the experimental group (EG) or the control group (CG) after the second ME (T0). Group allocation will be based on a computer-generated randomisation list (one for each centre, (MATLAB, 2007b, Mathworks Inc., USA) created by a researcher not involved into the study. Randomisation lists and corresponding token will be stored in the clinics' pharmacy. Patients will draw a token before the first therapy session. The token will be marked and stored until study finalisation in the pharmacy.

Group allocation will remain concealed for the independent assessor until study finalisation. Patients and treating therapists will be reminded not to talk about patient's group allocation with other therapists or participants.

Patients in both study groups (EG, CG) will receive the same amount of 16 sessions lasting for 45 minutes each. During each therapy appointment patients can decide to stop the training at any time.

Patients allocated to EG will have the opportunity to participate in two semi-structured interviews to evaluate their expectations and experiences with the virtual reality therapy with YouGrabber.

Treating therapists will have the opportunity to participate in one focus group meeting to evaluate their experiences with the virtual reality training, its advantages and disadvantages. Interview and focus group participation will be voluntary.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

54

Phase

  • Phase 3

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

      • Bern, Switzerland, 3010
        • Inselspital Bern
    • Aargau
      • Rheinfelden, Aargau, Switzerland, 4310
        • Reha Rheinfelden

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • ≥ 6 months after first-ever stroke (ischemic, haemorrhagic)
  • Able to sit in a normal chair without armrests and without support of the back rest
  • Persistent motor deficit of the arm and hand confirmed by the Chedoke-McMaster Stroke Assessment (CMSA) subscale arm level 7>x=/>3 and subscale hand level 7>x=/>2.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Previous or current other functional deficits of arm and hand motor function not due to stroke.
  • Severe cognitive deficits MMSE ≤ 20.
  • Severe spatial-visual disorders, e.g. severe visual neglect confirmed by a Line-Bisection-Test.
  • History of epileptic seizures triggered by visual stimuli (e.g. television, video games) within the last six months.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: TREATMENT
  • Allocation: RANDOMIZED
  • Interventional Model: PARALLEL
  • Masking: SINGLE

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: YouGrabber training device from YouRehab Ltd.
Patients in the experimental group (EG) will receive 16 training sessions lasting for 45 minutes each.
Patients in the experimental group (EG) will receive 16 training sessions lasting for 45 minutes each. The treatment focus is the upper extremity, in particular finder and hand function, movement coordination, and speed.
Active Comparator: Conventional therapy
Patients in the control group (CG) will receive 16 therapy sessions (physiotherapy or occupational therapy) lasting for 45 minutes each.
Patients in the control group (CG) will receive 16 therapy sessions physiotherapy or occupational therapy) lasting for 45 minutes each. The therapy focuses on upper limb movements, in particular finger and hand movements. Furthermore, movement coordination and speed shall be trained.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Box and Block Test (BBT)
Time Frame: 15 months
Patients will be evaluated by a blinded assessor on five occasions: twice within two weeks at baseline before intervention start (BL, T0), once after eight treatment sessions (T1), once after the intervention (T2), and once after a two month follow-up period (FU).
15 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Chedoke-McMaster Stroke Assessment (CMSA)
Time Frame: 15 months
Patients will be evaluated by a blinded assessor on five occasions: twice within two weeks at baseline before intervention start (BL, T0), once after eight treatment sessions (T1), once after the intervention (T2), and once after a two month follow-up period (FU).
15 months
Chedoke Arm and Hand Activity Inventory (CAHAI)
Time Frame: 15 months
Patients will be evaluated by a blinded assessor on five occasions: twice within two weeks at baseline before intervention start (BL, T0), once after eight treatment sessions (T1), once after the intervention (T2), and once after a two month follow-up period (FU).
15 months
Stroke Impact Scale (SIS)
Time Frame: 15 months
Patients will be evaluated by a blinded assessor on five occasions: twice within two weeks at baseline before intervention start (BL, T0), once after eight treatment sessions (T1), once after the intervention (T2), and once after a two month follow-up period (FU).
15 months

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
active range of motion (ROM)
Time Frame: 15 months
Patients will be evaluated by a blinded assessor on five occasions: twice within two weeks at baseline before intervention start (BL, T0), once after eight treatment sessions (T1), once after the intervention (T2), and once after a two month follow-up period (FU).
15 months
Extended Barthel Index (EBI)
Time Frame: 15 months
15 months
Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE)
Time Frame: 15 months
15 months
Edinburgh Handedness Inventory (EHI)
Time Frame: 15 months
15 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Collaborators

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Daniel Kiper, PD PhD, University and ETH Zurich, Institute for Neuroinformatics

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

January 1, 2013

Primary Completion (Actual)

April 1, 2016

Study Completion (Actual)

April 1, 2016

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 15, 2013

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 21, 2013

First Posted (Estimate)

January 24, 2013

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

April 7, 2016

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 6, 2016

Last Verified

November 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2012/065
  • 220/12 (Ethics committee Bern)

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Stroke

Clinical Trials on YouGrabber training device from YouRehab Ltd.

Search Similar Trials