Sensorimotor Training in Low-back Pain Rehabilitation (SeMoPoP)

April 5, 2016 updated by: Michael A. McCaskey

Effects of a Sensorimotor Training on Postural Control and Pain: A Parallel, Single-blinded Randomised Controlled Trial

This study evaluates the effects of additional sensorimotor training (proprioceptive postural training, PPT) to conventional therapy in the treatment of chronic low-back pain. Half of the participants will receive instructed treadmill training as an active comparator against PPT. All participants receive conventional physiotherapy as prescribed by their treating medical doctors. It is expected that the PPT group will improve in postural control, proprioceptive, as well as pain and function outcomes to a significantly greater extent than the active control group.

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.

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.
60

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

  • Switzerland
    • 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

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

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients with musculoskeletal low back pain (non-specific low back pain)
  • Age ≥ 18 years

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Known or suspected neurological diseases or lesions
  • Traumatic injury of musculoskeletal system (fractures, tumours)
  • Spinal pathologies (e.g., tumour, infection, fracture, and inflammatory disease)
  • Previous spinal surgery
  • Presence of any contraindication to exercise (fracture or cardiovascular limitations)

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: Single

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.
Experimental: Sensorimotor
The experimental group will receive added PPT to the conventional physiotherapy. PPT will be applied by means of a neuro-orthopaedic medical device ("Posturomed®", see section 3.2). The "Posturomed" allows adaptive oscillation in the horizontal plane. Therapy instructions advise seven stages of difficulty. In all stages the patient is asked to provoke oscillation by stepping on site. After three steps, the patient must stand still on one leg for 2 seconds before he or she repeats the steps. Difficulty is increased by a) decreasing the damping through release of the breaks and b) through added juggling of a ball during the motor task (dual-task and divided attention). The next stage is reached once stabilisation in the previous stage is secured.
Other: Proprioceptive postural training
Other Names:
  • Sensorimotor training
Other: Conventional physiotherapy
All participating patients will attend usual care according to their treatment plan (taking part in the study does not affect the treatment plan). A physiotherapy referral requests 9 treatments, each of which takes 30 minutes. These will take place twice a week for 4.5 weeks. The study protocol does not dictate the content of the physiotherapy sessions themselves, but detailed documentation of provided treatments is required (therapy documentation sheet). Additionally, the aim of the physiotherapy sessions should always include reduction of muscular imbalances and optimisation of posture.
Active Comparator: Low-intensity activity
Added to conventional therapy, as administered to all participants, the control group will do added treadmill walking. The control intervention will consist of 10 minutes of walking at comfortable pace. The patient will be instructed in treadmill functions and asked to set the speed between 2 and 4 km/h. The speed should be adjusted to the level where the patient would still be able to talk comfortably.
Other: Conventional physiotherapy
All participating patients will attend usual care according to their treatment plan (taking part in the study does not affect the treatment plan). A physiotherapy referral requests 9 treatments, each of which takes 30 minutes. These will take place twice a week for 4.5 weeks. The study protocol does not dictate the content of the physiotherapy sessions themselves, but detailed documentation of provided treatments is required (therapy documentation sheet). Additionally, the aim of the physiotherapy sessions should always include reduction of muscular imbalances and optimisation of posture.
Other: Treadmill training

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
Change of self-reported pain on 100mm Visual Analogue Scale (VAS)
Time Frame: Baseline (-4 days); Pre-Test (0 days); Post-Test (+25 days) and follow-up (+45 days)
Baseline (-4 days); Pre-Test (0 days); Post-Test (+25 days) and follow-up (+45 days)
Change of functional status recorded with the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI)
Time Frame: Baseline (-4 days); Pre-Test (0 days); Post-Test (+25 days) and follow-up (+45 days)
Baseline (-4 days); Pre-Test (0 days); Post-Test (+25 days) and follow-up (+45 days)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Centre of Pressure
Time Frame: Baseline (-4 days); Pre-Test (0 days); Post-Test (+25 days) and follow-up (+45 days)
Area of surface a the 95% confidence ellipse of centre of pressure displacement during postural task
Baseline (-4 days); Pre-Test (0 days); Post-Test (+25 days) and follow-up (+45 days)
Joint Repositioning Error (segmental)
Time Frame: Baseline (-4 days); Pre-Test (0 days); Post-Test (+25 days) and follow-up (+45 days)
Repositioning acuity after surface perturbation.
Baseline (-4 days); Pre-Test (0 days); Post-Test (+25 days) and follow-up (+45 days)
Uncontrolled Manifold Index (UCM)
Time Frame: Baseline (-4 days); Pre-Test (0 days); Post-Test (+25 days) and follow-up (+45 days)
Segmental joint configuration.
Baseline (-4 days); Pre-Test (0 days); Post-Test (+25 days) and follow-up (+45 days)

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.
Michael A. McCaskey

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.
University of Zurich

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.
  • Principal Investigator: Michael A McCaskey, MSc, Reha Rheinfelden
  • Study Chair: Eling D. de Bruin, PD PhD, ETH Zurich
  • Study Chair: Corina Schuster-Amft, PT PhD, Reha Rheinfelden

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.
December 1, 2014

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.
December 1, 2015

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.
January 1, 2016

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).
November 17, 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.
November 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.
December 1, 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.
April 6, 2016

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.
April 5, 2016

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.
April 1, 2016

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.
  • 2014-0873

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