Effects of Training Rhythmic and Discrete Aiming Movements on Arm Control and Functionality After Stroke

January 27, 2017 updated by: Renata Morales Banjai, Universidade Cidade de Sao Paulo

Effects of Training Rhythmic and Discrete Aiming Movements on the Upper Limb Control and Functionality After Stroke: Randomized Controlled Trial

The purpose of this study is to verify the additional effects of rhythmic specific training, discrete specific training additional to conventional therapy on the upper limb after chronic stroke subjects on the outcomes: motor control and functionality.

Study Overview

Status

Unknown

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Seventy-five patients will be randomized into three groups to receive conventional therapy, consisting of a combination of mobility exercises joint, muscle stretching, strength training, motor coordination exercises, unilateral and bilateral motor tasks as well as oriented tasks training upper limb with a focus on functional tasks. The other groups will receive additional intervention consisting of aiming movement practice according two different protocols: discrete movements to targets placed in different directions and distances; and rhythmic movements also to targets placed in different directions and distances. Both additional interventional interventions will be conducted for 30 minutes over a 5 week-period (total: 10 sessions).

Clinical outcomes (motor control), functional and kinematic will be collected at baseline and at five weeks. Functional results will be collected at the beginning, after 5 weeks and 3 months after randomization. Data will be collected by a blinded assessor on patients' allocation group. All statistical analyzes will be carried out following the principles of intention to treat analysis and differences between groups will be performed using linear mixed models.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

75

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

  • Brazil
      • Sao Paulo, Brazil, 03071-000
        • Recruiting
        • Universidade Cidade de Sao Paulo
        • Contact:

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 80 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion criteria:patients who participate in the survey, adult stroke survivors (>18 years), with primary diagnosis of first-ever unilateral stroke (ischaemic or haemorrhagic), stroke experienced > 6 months prior to study enrollment and score ≥ 20 on the Folstein Mini Mental Status Examination.

Exclusion criteria: patients with excessive pain in the paretic hand, arm or shoulder excessive spasticity at the paretic elbow and wrist as defined as a score of 4 on the Modified Ashworth Spasticity Scale and upper limb comorbidities that could limit their functional recovery (e.g., arthritis, pain, other neurological disorders).

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: Conventional Physical Therapy
Usual therapy: joint mobility exercises, stimulating joint movement of the main active components of the upper limb; major muscle groups stretching, especially in the affected muscles by tone impairment; manual resistance training according to the degree of the patient's muscle strength, prioritizing the functional specificity of the upper limb, so the majority of the exercises will be held in open chain; motor coordination exercises, unilateral and bilateral motor tasks as well as task-oriented training of the upper limb with a focus on functional tasks.
Other: Conventional Physical Therapy
Combination of joint mobility exercises, specific exercises for muscle strength and motor coordination exercises, unilateral and bilateral motor tasks as well as task-oriented training of the upper limb with a focus on functional tasks. Patients will receive 10 sessions of treatment over a period of five weeks (two sessions/week)
Experimental: discrete movement training group
Aiming movements training with the affected upper limb (unilateral training) or both limbs (bilateral training) on the surface of a table. The starting point of the movement and its target are predetermined. Targets will be placed in different directions and distances from the starting point and the therapist ask for variations on speed and assistance, if necessary.
Other: Discrete movement training group
Aiming movements training with the affected upper limb (unilateral training) or both limbs (bilateral training) on the surface of a table. The starting point of the movement and its target are predetermined. Targets will be placed in different directions and distances from the starting point and the therapist ask for variations on speed and assistance, if necessary.
Experimental: rhythmic movement training group
Aiming movements training with the affected upper limb (unilateral training) or both limbs (bilateral training) on the surface of a table. The movement begins in a predetermined starting point, directed to a target and returns to the starting point. This activity is performed several times with rhythmic movements. Targets will be placed in different directions and distances from the starting point and the therapist ask for variations on speed and assistance, if necessary.
Other: Rhythmic movement training group
Aiming movements training with the affected upper limb (unilateral training) or both limbs (bilateral training) on the surface of a table. The movement begins in a predetermined starting point, directed to a target and returns to the starting point. This activity is performed several times with rhythmic movements. Targets will be placed in different directions and distances from the starting point and the therapist ask for variations on speed and assistance, if necessary.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Stroke Impact Scale (SIS)
Time Frame: Five weeks after randomization and 3 months after randomization
Functionality: questionnaire which evaluates functionality. In this study will be evaluated four areas (arm muscle strength, hand function, activities of daily living and social participation)(Duncan et al., 1999). Each domain is scored from 1 to 5 (1 point corresponds to the worst possible outcome and 5 points to the best result). For the four areas the lowest possible score is 28 points and the highest is 125 points.
Five weeks after randomization and 3 months after randomization

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Motor Activity Log (MAL)
Time Frame: Five weeks and 3 months after randomization

Arm function: individuals are asked to rate Quality of Movement (QOM) and Amount of Movement (AOM) during 30 daily functional tasks (original MAL) (Uswatte et al., 2005).

Items scored on a 6-point ordinal scale, where 0 corresponds to the weaker arm was not sued at all for that activity (never). Patients with a score 5 show the ability to use the weaker arm for that activity was as good as before the stroke (normal).
Five weeks and 3 months after randomization
Fugl-Meyer Assessment Scale
Time Frame: Five weeks after randomization
Motor control: this scale assesses sensorimotor function of upper limb, with score 0-66 points with scores 0-66 points for motor function and 0-126 points for sensory-motor function (Fugl-Meyer, 1975). A higher score is better motor function.
Five weeks after randomization

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
kinematics assessment
Time Frame: Five weeks after randomization
Functional capacity: It will be used an experimental apparatus that analyzes the motor behavior the aiming movement (Ribeiro et al., 2014). They will evaluate the movement time (measured in milliseconds), reaction time (in milliseconds) and smoothness (expressed in units of motion). The movement time is the time interval between the beginning and the end of the movement. Reaction time is defined as the time between the start of the imperative stimulus to the beginning of the movement. The smoothness is evaluated by computing the number of times the acceleration zero crossing (positive to negative and vice versa). The resultant variable error (in centimeters) is a measure of variability for both the medial-lateral direction as anteroposterior, assessing the accuracy to hit the target.
Five weeks after randomization
Grip strength
Time Frame: Five weeks after randomization
Body function and structure: it will measure the strength of grip and pinch through dynamometer. The results will be presented in kilogram-force (Kgf) (Mathiowetz et al., 1985)
Five weeks after randomization
Modified Ashworth Spasticity Scale
Time Frame: Five weeks after randomization
Body function and structure: they will be assessed flexors elbow, wrist and fingers, and forearm pronators. A measurement scale from 0 to 4 points, with 0 representing normal muscle tone and 4 is the highest possible degree of spasticity (Bohannon and Smith, 1987)
Five weeks after randomization

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Universidade Cidade de Sao Paulo

Investigators

  • Study Director: Sandra R Alouche, PhD, Universidade Cidade São Paulo

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, 2016

Primary Completion (Anticipated)

June 1, 2018

Study Completion (Anticipated)

September 1, 2018

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 19, 2016

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 3, 2016

First Posted (Estimate)

May 6, 2016

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

January 30, 2017

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 27, 2017

Last Verified

January 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Universidade Cidade Sao Paulo

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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