Locomotor Training in Persons With Multiple Sclerosis

July 1, 2016 updated by: Barbara Giesser, University of California, Los Angeles

Robotic Locomotor Training in Persons With Multiple Sclerosis

Locomotor training is a new exercise modality that emphasizes task specificity to promote learning and neural plasticity. It has been reported to improve walking in patients with stroke, spinal cord injury and cerebral palsy. In this study, 40 patients with impaired ambulation due to Multiple Sclerosis will be randomized to receive 36 sessions of either locomotor training or an standard resistive exercise intervention.The locomotor training will be accomplished via a robotic device, the Lokomat, which will move the patient's legs on a treadmill while they are suspended in a harness.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

In this study, subjects with confirmed diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis were randomized into one of two treatment arms. Subjects in the Lokomat arm trained on the Lokomat with a supervising physical therapist for 20-30 minutes/session 3 times/week. The Lokomat is a robotic exoskeleton which enables the subject to step on a moving treadmill. Subjects were suspended in a harness while in the Lokomat with full to partial body weight support as needed. After the training in the Lokomat, they practiced overground walking for 10 minutes.

The other treatment arm had subjects engage in resistance training with weights and resistance elastic bands matched to the Lokomat group for intensity, duration and frequency. they did not practice overground walking.

Primary outcome measure was speed to accomplish 25' timed walk.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

38

Phase

  • Phase 2
  • Phase 1

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

  • United States
    • California
      • Los Angeles, California, United States, 90095
        • UCLA

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 to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Persons with Secondary progressive or Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis who are ambulatory with difficulty and /or assistive device

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Ataxia
  • Unable to ambulate
  • Within 3 months of exacerbation

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
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: 1
locomotor training using body weight support on a treadmill, using robotic device to provide locomotor training. Locomotor training will be done using the Lokomat device. the patient is suspended over a treadmill while their legs are in the Lokomat, which moves the legs on the treadmill.
Device: Lokomat
locomotor training using body weight support on a treadmill
Active Comparator: 2
resistive training using weights and therabands
Procedure: resistive training
resistive training using theraband and/or weights

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Walking Speed as Assessed by 25' Timed Walk
Time Frame: at beginning,mid point, end and 12 weeks after intervention
This is the time needed for participant to walk 25 feet. Participant walks on a level surface. the walk from start to finish is timed with a stop watch three measures are done and the average value is entered.
at beginning,mid point, end and 12 weeks after intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Distance
Time Frame: baseline, mid point, end and 12 weeks after training
distance assessed by 6 minute walk test
baseline, mid point, end and 12 weeks after training
Fatigue
Time Frame: baseline, mid, completetion, 3 months post
fatigue assessed by modified fatigue impact scale. This is a 21 item questionnaire which has a range from 0-84. Higher scores indicate more impact of fatigue on physical and cognitive functioning.
baseline, mid, completetion, 3 months post
PASAT
Time Frame: baseline, mid, completion, 3 months post training
Cognitive measure of attention and information processing speed. Score goes from 0-60 with higher number indicating better performance. Scores are expressed as mean chamge rfom baseline; negative numbers indicate worse performance
baseline, mid, completion, 3 months post training

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of California, Los Angeles

Collaborators

National Multiple Sclerosis Society

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Barbara S Giesser, MD, University of California, Los Angeles

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

July 1, 2006

Primary Completion (Actual)

August 1, 2009

Study Completion (Actual)

August 1, 2009

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 22, 2008

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 4, 2008

First Posted (Estimate)

February 5, 2008

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

August 15, 2016

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 1, 2016

Last Verified

July 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 06-04-064-02
  • RG3724-A-4 (Other Identifier: National MS Society)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

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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