Effect of a Physiotherapy Protocol for Gait and Functional Recovery After Stroke

September 25, 2014 updated by: M Luz Sanchez, University of Valencia

Development and Assessment of a New Physiotherapy Protocol for Gait Recovery After Stroke Based on Clinical and Functional Criteria

The purpose of this study was to identify and evaluate the effect of a new protocol of physiotherapy to retrain walking ability after stroke in subjects older than fifty-five. This protocol was composed of specific, clearly defined and reproducible techniques, based on clinical and functional criteria.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Stroke is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in adults and the leading cause of disability in all developed countries. Its incidence is approximately one million per year in the European Union.

It produces a huge social impact, not only because of mortality but also by the high demand for health and social services that involve its disabling effects on more than thirty thousand Spanish every year. Hemiplegia is the most common physical consequence of stroke and it is defined as the complete paralysis of the upper and lower extremities of one body side. However, other consequences as perceptual, cognitive, sensory and communication problems should be considered in the physiotherapy treatment.

Age is the most important risk indicator of stroke as it represents an exponential increase in incidence. After the age of 55 the risk doubles for every decade and triples at 80. After rehabilitation, most people who have suffered a stroke get to walk independently or with some technical help, but approximately 50-60% continue to have a certain degree of motor impairment and approximately 50% are, at least in part, dependent for daily life activities. Therefore, gait recovery is one of the main objectives in the rehabilitation process of stroke survivors.

Regarding the process of rehabilitation after stroke, currently, there is insufficient evidence to conclude that any of the physical therapy approaches is more effective to promote recovery of lower limb function or postural control than any other. Thus, future research should focus on determining the effectiveness of individual techniques clearly described and specific treatments for each problem regardless of their approach. Furthermore, after reviewing the different approaches of physiotherapy rehabilitation after stroke, no physiotherapy treatment protocols based on clinical status of the patient have been found. Instead, vague and general instructions are given, so it is necessary to clarify what to do, when and what is the effectiveness of these techniques.

On the other hand, studies have scarcely taken into account the special characteristics of the elderly as a population group so involved in this pathology.

This study aims at addressing these issues, since its main objective is to identify and evaluate the effect of a protocol of physiotherapy to retrain walking ability after stroke in patients older than fifty-five, composed of specific, clearly defined and reproducible techniques, based on clinical and functional criteria.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
20

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

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

  • Spain
      • Valencia, Spain, 46009
        • Hospital la Fé

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

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

55 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Having suffered a single stroke episode with residual hemiparesis
  • Being candidate to begin a rehabilitation programme
  • Being able to walk before suffering the stroke
  • Having the ability to understand and follow simple instructions
  • Being hemodynamically stable within the first week after stroke

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Poor vital prognosis
  • Pathologies or disorders hampering the development of the study such as: blindness, prosthetics, sensory disorders, severe cognitive impairment and so on
  • Absence of motor impairments after stroke
  • Pre-stroke disorders that affected the ability to walk

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 Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Active Comparator: Control group
Conventional physiotherapy for stroke.
Other: Conventional physiotherapy
Physiotherapy techniques that included muscle training, stretching and endurance.
Experimental: Target group
Techniques based on patients' functional level were added.
Other: Conventional physiotherapy
Physiotherapy techniques that included muscle training, stretching and endurance.
Other: Techniques based on patients' functional level were added.
The added techniques aimed to improve balance and movement dissociation.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Barthel Index
Time Frame: up to 6 months
up to 6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
University of Valencia

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
Hospital Universitario La Fe

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Study Director: Enrique Viosca-Herrero, PhD, Hospital Universitario la Fe
  • Study Director: Juan-Manuel Belda-Lois, PhD, Instituto de Biomecanica de Valencia
  • Study Director: Celedonia Igual-Camacho, PhD, University of Valencia

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.

General Publications

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

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
March 1, 2011

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
April 1, 2014

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
June 1, 2014

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
April 2, 2014

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
September 25, 2014

First Posted (Estimate)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
September 26, 2014

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
September 26, 2014

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
September 25, 2014

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
September 1, 2014

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 2011/0417

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.

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