Effects of Home-based Program in Improving Sitting Balance and Upper Limb Functions in Patients With Stroke

July 11, 2018 updated by: Shamay Ng, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

A Home-Based Program of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation and Task-Related Trunk Training Improves Trunk Control in Patients With Stroke: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

The investigators hypothesize that application of electrical stimulation would augment the effects of exercises in patients with stroke. Combined electrical stimulation with exercises for 6 weeks would lead to earlier and greater improvement in motor functions when compared with placebo-stimulation with exercises.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Previous studies have shown that repeated sensory inputs from transcutaneous electrical stimulation (TES) could enhance brain plasticity and conical motor output. Home-based rehabilitation is shown to be effective in motor recovery and improvement of functional ability in stroke rehabilitation.

The aim of this study was to develop a home-based rehabilitation program to investigate whether combined electrically induced sensory inputs through TES with task-related trunk training (TRTT) in a home-based program would induce earlier and/or greater improvement in, seated reaching distance and trunk control when compared with placebo TES and TRTT, or control with no active treatment in subjects with chronic stroke.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

37

Phase

  • 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

  • Hong Kong
      • Hong Kong, Hong Kong
        • The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

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

45 years to 80 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Diagnosis with first stroke for more than 6 months
  2. Discharge from all rehabilitation services
  3. Ability to understand and follow commands
  4. A carer able for helping the home program
  5. No contraindication to assessment protocol and training

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Cognitive disorder with Abbreviated Mental Test less than 7
  2. Unilateral neglect with Star cancellation Test less than 47
  3. Sensory deficit
  4. Unable to give informed consent
  5. Unable to speak either Cantonese or English or Mandarin
  6. Commodity that preclude them from undergoing training and assessment
  7. Neurological disease other than stroke

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: electrical stimulation with exercises
The TENS + TRTT group received TENS simultaneously with the TRTT at home under the instruction of a physical therapist.
Behavioral: electrical stimulation with exercises
electrical stimulation with exercises
Placebo Comparator: placebo stimulation with exercises
The TENS + TRTT group received placebo-simultaneously with the TRTT at home under the instruction of a physical therapist.
Behavioral: placebo stimulation with exercises
placebo stimulation with exercises
No Intervention: Control
Subjects in this group did not receive any active training. Home safety advice and health education including diet control and blood pressure monitoring were given to the subjects during the home-visit and telephone follow-up.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Trunk Impairment Scale
Time Frame: baseline, 6 weeks
The Trunk impairment scale is a 2 to 4-point ordinal scale. The scale assesses static and dynamic sitting balance and trunk coordination. The maximum scores on the static sitting balance, dynamic sitting balance, and coordination subscales are 7, 10, and 6 points, respectively. The total score of Trunk impairment scale ranges between 0 and 23 points, with a higher score representing better trunk control. The static sitting balance subscale evaluated the trunk stability with both feet on the floor and with the legs crossed. The dynamic sitting balance subscale evaluated the ability to perform trunk side flexion. The coordination components evaluated the ability to selectively rotate the upper and lower parts of the trunk.
baseline, 6 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Forward Sitting Functional Reach Test
Time Frame: baseline, 6 weeks
Sitting Functional Reach was used to assess the limits of stability in reaching activities. The sitting functional reach test measures how far forward, from a sitting position, a subject can bend forward to reach without losing his/her balance. A longer reaching distance indicated a better trunk control.
baseline, 6 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Shamay NG, PhD, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

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

August 1, 2010

Primary Completion (Actual)

December 1, 2014

Study Completion (Actual)

December 31, 2014

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 10, 2010

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 10, 2010

First Posted (Estimate)

September 13, 2010

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

January 4, 2019

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 11, 2018

Last Verified

July 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • DHSC_NG
  • DHSC_NG_001

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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