Heart-Brain Retraining for Stroke Rehabilitation

August 2, 2018 updated by: Jay Alberts, The Cleveland Clinic

Heart-Brain Retraining: Forced Aerobic Exercise for Stroke Rehabilitation

The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of how different types of exercise can help people after a stroke. The investigators want to study if different types of exercise will improve the use of arm and hand function after a stroke.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Stroke is the leading cause of disability in the United States with approximately 795,000 new or recurrent strokes per year. An estimated two thirds of patients post-stroke cannot incorporate the affected upper extremity (UE) into their activities of daily living. In addition, stroke survivors experience a 60% decrease in cardiovascular capacity, which contributed to disability and diminished quality of life. Developing rehabilitation techniques to optimize motor recovery while improving cardiovascular endurance would benefit the stroke population.

Animal studies using a forced exercise (FE) paradigm, in which the rodent is exercised on a motorized treadmill at a rate greater than its voluntary rate, indicate an endogenous increase in neurotrophic factors such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and glial-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF). These neurotrophic factors are thought to underlie neuroplasticity and motor learning. It is hypothesized that patients with stroke, due to decreased motor cortical output, cannot sustain high rates of voluntary exercise necessary to trigger the endogenous release of neurotrophic factors; therefore, forced-exercise is necessary to augment their voluntary efforts and will be superior to voluntary exercise in facilitating motor recovery. When coupled with repetitive task practice (RTP) of the UE, an effective form of UE rehabilitation, FE will prime the brain for neuroplasticity. We have developed a safe and effective method of delivering forced-exercise to Parkinson's disease (PD) patients (NIH R21HD056316). Clinical and imaging data with PD patients indicate forced-exercise, but not voluntary exercise, triggers a neurophysiologic response in the central nervous system resulting in global improvements in motor and non-motor functioning and increased cortical and subcortical activation. The aim of this project is to conduct a preliminary trial to compare the effects of forced to voluntary exercise when coupled with RTP in promoting the recovery of motor function in patients with stroke.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

21

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

  • United States
    • Ohio
      • Cleveland, Ohio, United States, 44195
        • Cleveland Clinic

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 85 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Able to provide informed consent
  • Within 6-12 months of diagnosis of single ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke, confirmed with neuroimaging
  • Fugl-Meyer Motor Score 19-55 in involved upper extremity
  • Approval from patient's primary care physician
  • Age between 18 and 85 years

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Hospitalization for myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, or heart surgery (CABG or valve replacement) within 3 months of study enrollment
  • Serious cardiac arrhythmia
  • Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
  • Severe aortic stenosis
  • Cardiac pacemaker
  • Pulmonary embolus
  • Other medical or musculoskeletal contraindication to exercise
  • Significant cognitive impairment (unable to follow 1-2 step commands) or major psychiatric disorder (major depression, generalized anxiety) that will cause difficulty in study participation
  • Anti-spasticity injection (botox) in upper extremity within 3 months of study enrollment
  • Pregnancy

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: Repetitive Task Practice (RTP)
This group focuses on RTP.
Behavioral: Repetitive Task Practice (RTP)
This group will preform arm and hand therapy.
Experimental: Voluntary cycling + RTP
This group involves one biking session and one RTP session three times per week for eight weeks.
Behavioral: Voluntary cycling + RTP
This group will preform arm and hand therapy and cycle on a bike.
Experimental: Assisted cycling + RTP
This group involves one biking session and one RTP session three times per week for eight weeks.
Behavioral: Assisted cycling + RTP
This group will preform arm and hand therapy and cycle on a bike.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Wolf Motor Function Test (WMFT)
Time Frame: Baseline, End of Treatment (8 weeks); End of Treatment + 4 week (12 weeks)
This consists of 2 strength tasks and 15 timed tasks of both the affected UE and the unaffected UE. Total Functional Ability Score is reported, scores range from 0-75, with higher scores indicating a better outcome.
Baseline, End of Treatment (8 weeks); End of Treatment + 4 week (12 weeks)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
The Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA)
Time Frame: Baseline, End of Treatment (8 weeks); End of Treatment + 4 week (12 weeks)
This is a 33 item assessment of post-stroke UE impairment. Total score is reported, scores range from 0-66, with higher scores indicating a better outcome.
Baseline, End of Treatment (8 weeks); End of Treatment + 4 week (12 weeks)

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
The Stroke Impact Scale (SIS)
Time Frame: Baseline, End of Treatment (8 weeks); End of Treatment + 4 week (12 weeks)
This is a self-reported questionnaire evaluating quality of life. Normalized Hand Function is reported, scores range from 0-100, with higher scores indicating a better outcome.
Baseline, End of Treatment (8 weeks); End of Treatment + 4 week (12 weeks)

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

The Cleveland Clinic

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

August 1, 2012

Primary Completion (Actual)

November 1, 2014

Study Completion (Actual)

November 1, 2014

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 24, 2014

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 28, 2014

First Posted (Estimate)

March 4, 2014

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

August 31, 2018

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 2, 2018

Last Verified

August 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • R03HD073566 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

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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