Mirror Therapy Education for Acute Stroke Patients

September 30, 2026 updated by: Health Sciences North Research Institute

Effectiveness of Patient Education on Mirror Therapy to Improve Upper Extremity Function in Acute Stroke Patients

In Canada, the number of stroke survivors is equivalent to the size of one of the four Atlantic Provinces. The incident rate of stroke has been increasing steadily since 1995. The majority of the stroke survivors lose upper extremity function, resulting in diminished activities of daily living (ADL). Many therapeutic interventions are recommended to improve upper extremity function or ADLs of stroke survivors, however, Mirror Therapy (MT), inexpensive intervention, can be self-administered by stroke survivors with intact cognition. Thus, the research question is whether a self-administered MT technique improves acute stroke patients' upper extremity motor function and recovery?

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.
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

  • Canada
    • Ontario
      • Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, P3E 5J1
        • Health Sciences North

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:

  • Admitted with diagnosis of stroke with onset within two weeks
  • Medically stable
  • Able to follow directions
  • No severe cognitive impairments that could interfere with patient participation
  • Consent to treatment by patient
  • Alpha-Functional Independence Measure (Alpha-FIM) score of > 40

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Medical instability
  • Lack of motivation
  • Recurrent/ chronic stroke
  • Recent upper extremity musculoskeletal injuries with movement restrictions
  • Receptive or global aphasia
  • Delirium
  • Unilateral neglect
  • Visual field deficiency.

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: Health Services Research
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

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: Mirror Therapy + Standard of Care

Participants in this group will receive standard of care based on their needs along with mirror therapy education.
Other: Mirror Therapy

Participants will receive the standard-of-care; multidisciplinary rehabilitation intervention based on their needs and tolerance, and will receive an additional 30 min of Mirror Therapy education. During Mirror Therapy education, the patients will be educated or shown how to perform MT and the patients will complete the recommended exercises on their own for 30 minutes/day for 5 days a week/ for 4 weeks. Standard Mirror Therapy Protocol will be followed.

Other: Regular Rehabilitation

Participants will receive the standard-of-care, multidisciplinary rehabilitation intervention based on their needs and tolerance.
Active Comparator: Standard of Care

Participants in this group will receive only standard of care based on their needs.
Other: Regular Rehabilitation

Participants will receive the standard-of-care, multidisciplinary rehabilitation intervention based on their needs and tolerance.

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
Measure Description
Time Frame
Fugl-Meyer Assessment scale
Time Frame: Assessment will be completed at 2 points: Pre-test assessment will be done within 48 hours of stroke admission and post-test assessment will be done at 4 weeks.

Scores of < 31 corresponded with 'no to poor' upper extremity capacity, 32 to 47 represented 'limited capacity', 48 to 52 represented 'notable capacity' and 53 to 66 represented 'full' upper extremity capacity.
Assessment will be completed at 2 points: Pre-test assessment will be done within 48 hours of stroke admission and post-test assessment will be done at 4 weeks.
Wolf Motor Function Test
Time Frame: : Assessment will be completed at 2 points: Pre-test assessment will be done within 48 hours of stroke admission and post-test assessment will be done at 4 weeks

Assess upper extremity function; maximum Score is 75; lower scores are indicative of lower functional levels.
: Assessment will be completed at 2 points: Pre-test assessment will be done within 48 hours of stroke admission and post-test assessment will be done at 4 weeks

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
Modified Barthel Index
Time Frame: : Assessment will be completed at 2 points: Pre-test assessment will be done within 48 hours of stroke admission and post-test assessment will be done at 4 weeks

Assess Activity of Daily Living, Scores of <15 usually represents moderate disability and <10 usually represents severe disability.
: Assessment will be completed at 2 points: Pre-test assessment will be done within 48 hours of stroke admission and post-test assessment will be done at 4 weeks

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.
Health Sciences North Research Institute

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.
NORTHERN ONTARIO ACADEMIC MEDICINE ASSOCIATION (NOAMA)

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 (Actual)

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.
July 4, 2022

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.
May 3, 2024

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.
May 3, 2024

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).
August 26, 2020

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 2, 2020

First Posted (Actual)

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 9, 2020

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

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.
October 5, 2026

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 30, 2026

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, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

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.
  • C-20-15

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

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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