Effects of Vojta Therapy on Posture and Trunk Control

November 22, 2025 updated by: Wajeeha Mahmood, University of Lahore

Effects of Vojta Therapy on Posture and Trunk Control in Patients With Sub-acute Stroke

Vojta therapy that is reflex locomotion therapy is a neurophysiological rehabilitation approach that stimulates specific "reflex zones" on the body to activate global, innate movement patterns. In stroke rehabilitation, it is used to improve postural control, trunk stability, and functional movement by engaging automatic motor responses. Vojta stimulation can activate motor cortical and subcortical areas as well as postural muscles. Pose estimation will be used to analyze human motion in stroke patients. The study will identify if there is significant difference in the comparative effects of Vojta therapy in addition to routine physical therapy on posture, trunk control and upper extremity motor function in sub-acute stroke patients

Study Overview

Status

Status

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

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

Vojta therapy can be used in the early stages of stroke patients' rehabilitation because acute stroke patients are characterized by a disruption in their capacity to react to changes in body posture, necessitating automatic postural adjustment. This study will determine the comparative effects of Vojta therapy in addition to routine physical therapy on posture, trunk control and upper extremity motor function in patients with sub-acute stroke. Body angles will be measured used Vojta therapy.

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 (Estimated)

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.
62

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 Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Locations

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age 45-65 years
  • Both males and females
  • First time subacute stroke (7 days post stroke to 3 months)
  • Brunnstrom stage 1,2
  • A confirmed CT scan for subacute ischemic stroke
  • A hemiplegia with score of ≤2 of medical research council scale for muscle strength of the arm (MRCS)
  • Premorbid modified Rankin scale score ≤ 3
  • Stroke patient who can achieve supported standing
  • Patients having NIHSS score 16-20 will be included
  • Patient who can achieve sitting for 30 seconds

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Severe cognitive impairments that can hinder rehabilitation
  • Limitations in communication due to aphasia
  • Altered consciousness or dementia (Epple et al., 2020b)
  • Patients suffering from postural hypotension

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: Experimental arm
Vojta therapy and routine physical therapy
Other: Vojta therapy
Vojta therapy will be implemented for reflex rolling and reflex creeping. A small pressure with dorsal, medial and cranial directional stimuli will be provided. After stimulation the reactions are extension of spine, flexion of hip joint, then knee joint and in the end at ankle joint. 5 sessions per week with a 60-minute session are part of protocol for routine physical therapy and vojta therapy for 8 weeks.
Other Names:
  • Reflex locomotion therapy
Other: Routine physical therapy
The control group will receive routine physical therapy treatment which will consist of positioning, passive movements of the limbs, sensorimotor exercises for the affected limb using task-oriented training and motor relearning program consisting of repetitive motor skills consisting of functional tasks and involves task breakdown, such as transfers, upper limb function will be performed. 5 sessions per week with a 60-minute session are part of protocol for routine physical therapy and core stability for 8 weeks.
Active Comparator: Conventional therapy arm
Routine physical therapy
Other: Routine physical therapy
The control group will receive routine physical therapy treatment which will consist of positioning, passive movements of the limbs, sensorimotor exercises for the affected limb using task-oriented training and motor relearning program consisting of repetitive motor skills consisting of functional tasks and involves task breakdown, such as transfers, upper limb function will be performed. 5 sessions per week with a 60-minute session are part of protocol for routine physical therapy and core stability for 8 weeks.

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
Trunk control
Time Frame: 8 weeks
Trunk performance will be assessed with Trunk control test. It consists of four items assessed on a three-point ordinal scale. Items include rolling to affected and non-affected side, sitting, and balance in the sitting position for 30 seconds. The total score is from 0 to 100, a higher score of 50 points indicates better performance. A 12-point score indicates abnormal pattern of movement while a 25 -point score means movement was normal. Internal validity is a= o.86 while r= 0.76 It is a validated test for posture control and motor
8 weeks
Pose estimation
Time Frame: 8 weeks
Pose estimation software will be used for posture information. It will use key points as joints from the body and their position in space and time. In pose estimation the position of each body joint is estimated. It is based on activity recognition. The recognition is done by segmenting the position of the key points of the joints of the individuals in the scene. The Smart phone cameras are used for picture and then the software recognizes the key points on the picture. The software will record precise posture information. The program uses user-selected images to determine angles between various body components
8 weeks
Posture control
Time Frame: 8 weeks
To measure posture control posture assessment scale for stroke will be used. It will determine posture after stroke in sitting, standing and lying position. It's a 4-point scale and ranges from 0-36. It consists of 12 items where items are scored from 0-3.It will measure balance in sitting, standing and lying. It will measure the ability of the individual to maintain balance with different positions. Inter ratter reliability for individual items is α=0.88. It has excellent predictive validity with α=0.86
8 weeks
Motor Evaluation Scale for upper extremity
Time Frame: 8 weeks
Motor evaluation scale for upper extremity will be used to measure motor activity of arm and hand. It has 8 tasks for arm with six categories of responses and hand has 6 tasks items with three categories. While functional tasks have three items with three categories. It has items of arm with total score of 40 and hand items with total score of 18. The maximum score for the scale is 58. The scale has good test-retest reliability. Reliability is 0.99 for MESUPES arm and 0.97 for MESUPES hand. Validity is 0.87
8 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.
University of Lahore

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.
November 15, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

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.
August 15, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

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.
August 30, 2026

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, 2025

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 17, 2025

First Posted (Estimated)

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.
November 24, 2025

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.
November 28, 2025

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.
November 22, 2025

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.
November 1, 2025

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.
  • UOL/IREB/25/12/0031

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

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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