Effects of Fear of Falling on Physical Performance and Quality of Life in Children With Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Investigating The Effects of Fear of Falling on Physical Performance and Quality of Life in Children With Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

For ambulatory children with DMD, physiotherapy is aimed at protecting ambulation, improving motor performance to the best level and increasing quality of life. The investigators think that the treatment of children with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy may become more effective with physiotherapy programs based on the comprehensive physiotherapy evaluation results, including the evaluation of fear of falling. This study investigates the fear of falling in children with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and questioning whether their fear of falling affects their quality of life and their physical performance.

Study Overview

• Status: Unknown
• Conditions: Neuromuscular Diseases; Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy; Dystrophy; Dystrophy, Muscular
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Assessments

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 40

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Canan İpek; Phone Number: +90-312-305 15 76-77; Email: cananipek@hacettepe.edu.tr

Study Locations

• Turkey
  • Sıhhiye
    • Ankara, Sıhhiye, Turkey, 06100
      • Recruiting
      • Hacettepe University
      • Contact: Graduate School of Health Sciences
      • Contact: Phone Number: +90 (312) 305 10 90

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 6 years to 15 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Children with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Hacettepe University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, Pediatric Neuromuscular Diseases Unit.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy by a pediatric neurologist,
• Being volunteer,
• Being between 6 and 15 years old,
• Being between levels 1-5 according to the Brooke Lower Extremity Functional Classification developed to classify lower extremity functions in children with DMD,
• Being able to cooperate with the physiotherapist's directives.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Being between levels 6-10 (children who do not have independent ambulatory ability) according to the Brooke Lower Extremity Functional Classification,
• Not being able to cooperate with the physiotherapist's directives,
• End of the volunteering.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Fear of Falling	"ICF Based 'Fear of Falling' Assessment in Pediatric Neuromuscular Diseases" is developed by researchers as examining the 'fear of falling' assessments in the literature and organizing the activities that children with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) may have experience fear of falling. There are six main titles which are based on DMD population and ICF headings. As follows: "Learning and Applying Knowledge", "General Tasks and Demands", "Mobility", "Self-Care", "Major Life Areas" and "Community, Social and Civic Living". It is a form total of 34 items which children with DMD answer to the fear of falling during different activities as "never = 0", "sometimes = 1", "always = 2" or "not applicable = NA". High scores indicate high fear of falling.	15-30 minutes

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
History of Falls	Fall history of children with DMD is assessed using the 17-item History of Fall Questionnaire, which was developed by Ann Myers in 1996 and was later used to assess the fear of falling of individuals with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a neuromuscular disease. Accordingly, past experiences of falling children are evaluated in sub-titles such as frequency, location, internal and external causes, injury.	15-20 minutes
Posture Analysis	Posture analysis is made by using "New York Posture Rating Scale".	15-20 minutes
Performance Evaluation	6 minute walking test (6MWT) are used.	6 minutes
Evaluation of Energy Consumption	Physiological Cost Index is used to evaluate energy consumption. It reflects the increased heart rate required for walking and is expressed as heartbeats per meter by formula: [Heart rate after 6MWT- Heart rate at rest]/Walking speed (m/min).	15-20 minutes
Fatigue	To evaluate the fatigue of the children with DMD, PedsQL Multidimensional Fatigue Scale is used. This scale assesses fatigue with a total of 18 items, 6 items in each of the 3 main headings: "General Fatigue", "Sleeping / Resting Fatigue" and "Cognitive Fatigue". There are three different forms for young children (5-7 years), children (8-12 years) and adolescents (13-17 years). All three forms have both child and parent reports. The reliability and validity of the scale is proven in Turkish.	15-20 minutes
Balance Assessment	The Pediatric Berg Balance Scale is used to assess the functional balance in the daily activities of children with DMD. The scale consists of 14 sections and each section is scored between 0-4; the highest score that can be taken from the scale is 56 and the higher scores show the better balance level.	15-20 minutes
Functional Walking Assessment	Gillette Functional Walking Scale is used for practical assessment of walking. The parent marks the item that best describes the child's ability to walk within 10 items. The high score means better walking ability.	5-10 minutes
Gait Analysis	Spatio-temporal characteristics of gait are assessed. Step length, stride length, step width (width of the walking base) and stance width are measured by footprint method which we use talcum powder to make them appear.The walking speed are recorded according to the 6MWT results.	15-20 minutes
Ambulation Assessment	The North Star Ambulatory Assessment which is a 17-item rating scale that is used to measure functional motor abilities in ambulant children with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is used. The activities are scored as follows: 2 - 'Normal' - no obvious modification of activity 1 - Modified method but achieves goal independent of physical assistance from another 0 - Unable to achieve independently	15-20 minutes
Quality of Life	The Pediatric Outcomes Data Collection Instrument is used for a comprehensive assessment of quality of life of children with DMD. Functional dimensions are assessed include upper extremity functioning, transfers and basic mobility, sports and physical function, comfort/pain, global function (an average of the four previous scores), and happiness with physical condition. Scores for all dimensions are scaled from 0 to 100, with 100 being the highest level of function or happiness.	15-20 minutes
Activity Limitation	ACTIVLIM questionnaire is used which was designed to evaluate limitations in activities involving upper and lower limbs in adults and children with neuromuscular diseases, is linked to the domains of the Activities and Participation of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), and to its Children and Youth version (ICF-CY). There are 22 daily living activities and each item is answered on a 3-level scale (impossible, difficult, easy). The highest score that can be taken from the test is 44 and the higher scores indicate less activity limitation.	5-10 minutes

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Canan İpek

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Anticipated): April 1, 2018
• Primary Completion (Anticipated): January 1, 2019
• Study Completion (Anticipated): January 1, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 8, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 15, 2018
• First Posted (Actual): April 25, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 27, 2018
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 25, 2018
• Last Verified: April 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: quality of life; physiotherapy and rehabilitation; fear of falling
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Nervous System Diseases; Genetic Diseases, Inborn; Genetic Diseases, X-Linked; Musculoskeletal Diseases; Muscular Diseases; Muscular Disorders, Atrophic; Muscular Dystrophies; Muscular Dystrophy, Duchenne; Neuromuscular Diseases
• Other Study ID Numbers: GO 18/45

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No