Home Based Computer Gaming Hand Exercise Regimen for People With Arthritis Affecting the Hands

October 11, 2014 updated by: Dr. Tony Szturm, University of Manitoba

Effects of Home Based Computer Gaming Hand Exercise Regimen in People With Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) or Osteoarthritis (OA) -A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial

The purpose of the study is to determine whether a novel computer gaming hand exercise regimen would improve hand function, decrease pain/ stiffness and be feasible in people with Rheumatoid arthritis or Osteoarthritis affecting the hands.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

A novel computer gaming hand exercise regimen has been designed for people with Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or Osteo arthritis (OA) affecting the hands. The design allows a broad range of common objects of daily life to be seamlessly transformed into 'therapeutic' input devices by instrumenting with a small motion sense mouse. Based on individual abilities and treatment needs, objects are selected to train specific fine/ gross dexterous functions. The object manipulations (therapeutic exercises) are then used to control and play any commercially available computer game, making practice challenging and engaging.

The study is of six weeks duration comparing the computer gaming and conventional hand exercises in thirty people diagnosed with RA or OA affecting the hands. The investigators hypothesize that the game based exercises will improve hand function and reduce pain/stiffness and be feasible compared to the conventional hand exercises.A mixed-effect repeated measures analysis of variance will be conducted to test pre to post treatment outcomes. This will be the first study to evaluate the therapeutic effects and feasibility of the computer gaming hand exercise regimen in people with RA or OA.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

16

Phase

  • Phase 2

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
    • Manitoba
      • Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, R3E 0T6
        • University of Manitoba

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

30 years to 70 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Men and women
  • Aged between 30-70 years
  • Clinical diagnosis of Rheumatoid arthritis or Osteoarthritis of hands according to American college of rheumatology criteria
  • Must own a home computer and have basic working knowledge of computers.
  • Present with scores ranging from 0-75 on self-reported hand function ability with the Disabilities of Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) questionnaire

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Severely deformed finger joints
  • Neurological conditions of dominant side upper limb
  • Trauma in wrist or hand
  • Upper limb surgeries in previous six months
  • Co-existing hand conditions in the dominant hand
  • Problems with vision or hearing
  • Recent changes in drug regimen (Disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) or corticosteroids <3 months)
  • Major diseases of heart or lungs or liver
  • DASH scores 0-75.

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
Active Comparator: Control group
Conventional hand exercise program
Other: Conventional hand exercise program
Exercises targeted to improve finger range of motion and hand strength.The exercises will be performed 30 minutes,four times per week for six weeks
Experimental: Experimental group
Computer gaming hand exercise regimen'
Other: Computer gaming hand exercise regimen
Computer gaming hand exercise regimen using common objects of daily life. The hand exercises are coupled with commercially available computer games and will be performed 30 minutes,four times per week for six weeks

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change from baseline in Arthritis Hand Function Test (AHFT) at 6 weeks
Time Frame: Baseline and 6 weeks
The Arthritis Hand Function Test(AHFT) is an 11-item performance based test to measure grip and pinch strength, dexterity, applied strength and applied dexterity in people with arthritis.
Baseline and 6 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change from baseline in Disabilities of Arm,Shoulder and Hand(DASH) questionnaire at 6 weeks
Time Frame: Baseline and 6 weeks
The DASH is a self-report questionnaire, with 30 items designed to measure functional ability and symptoms in people with any of several musculo skeletal disorders of the upper limb
Baseline and 6 weeks
Change from baseline in Paddle game based hand function assessment tool at 6 weeks
Time Frame: Baseline and 6 weeks
A novel, paddle game based hand function assessment tool has been developed designed to: 1) Objectively quantify the quality of finger hand movements (task performance) during manipulation of broad range of common objects independent of physical properties, anatomical requirements and task goal/context, 2) Quantify pain and joint stiffness during each object manipulation task, 3) Track changes in finger hand function over time and 4) Aid in clinical decision making
Baseline and 6 weeks
Personal exercise log diary
Time Frame: End of 6 weeks of home exercise program
Exercise compliance will be measured at the end of 6 weeks of home exercise program
End of 6 weeks of home exercise program

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Manitoba

Collaborators

Canadian Arthritis Network

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

June 1, 2012

Primary Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2014

Study Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2014

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 29, 2012

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 4, 2012

First Posted (Estimate)

July 9, 2012

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

October 15, 2014

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 11, 2014

Last Verified

October 1, 2014

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • H2012:182

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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