- ICH GCP
- US Clinical Trials Registry
- Clinical Trial NCT04318951
Impact of Intensive Social Interaction on Post-Stroke Depression in Individuals With Aphasia (CONNECT)
Study Overview
Status
Conditions
Intervention / Treatment
Detailed Description
Background. Individuals with post-stroke aphasia often experience a profound loss of abilities to engage in social interaction, one major reason for increased risk of depression after a cerebrovascular accident. Impaired communication skills in aphasia can prevent classical forms of psychotherapy, thus emphasizing the need for new rehabilitation strategies alongside antidepressant medication.
Aims. The present parallel-group, single-center, blinded-assessment controlled trial seeks to explore the feasibility - in terms of high completion rates (primary outcome) - and potential efficacy (co-primary and secondary outcomes, as defined below) of intensive communicative-pragmatic social interaction for treatment of post-stroke depression in subacute aphasia. In this early time window after a cerebrovascular accident, prevalence of post-stroke depression is generally high.
Methods. Treatment is based on a linguistically validated protocol that encourages individuals with aphasia to use neural resources of verbal communication embedded in intensive social interaction. In a routine-healthcare outpatient setting, 60 individuals with post-stroke depression and subacute aphasia will be assigned to one of two groups in a pseudorandomized fashion: (i) intensive communicative-pragmatic social interaction combined with standard care, or (ii) standard care alone.
Endpoints and Outcomes. Apart from evidence of treatment feasibility, endpoint will be change on self-report and clinician-rated measures of depression severity (co-primary outcomes: Beck's Depression Inventory, BDI; and Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, HAM-D) after a 1-month treatment period (5 hours of weekly training). Secondary outcomes include measures evaluating self-efficacy, quality of life, and language performance (secondary outcomes: Self-Efficacy Questionnaire; and Aachen Aphasia Test, AAT).
Hypotheses. Aside from evidence of treatment feasibility, the primary hypothesis predicts significant between-group differences on BDI and HAM-D scores, indicating greater reduction in depression severity with intensive communicative-pragmatic social interaction over and above standard care alone. Secondary analyses will focus on the Self-Efficacy Questionnaire as an external criterion to explore the psychometric adequacy of the self-report co-primary outcome, the BDI, and consider progress in language performance from onset to end of treatment on the AAT to account for the potential relationship between change in cognitive-affective distress and verbal expression skills.
Clinical Relevance. The current proof-of-concept trial will investigate the feasibility and potential efficacy of intensive communicative-pragmatic social interaction as a means to promote recovery from post-stroke depression in subacute aphasia. The results obtained will determine the design of a subsequent phase-III randomized controlled trial.
Study Type
Enrollment (Actual)
Phase
- Not Applicable
Contacts and Locations
Study Locations
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Berlin, Germany, 14089
- MEDIAN-Klinik Berlin-Kladow
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Participation Criteria
Eligibility Criteria
Ages Eligible for Study
- Child
- Adult
- Older Adult
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Genders Eligible for Study
Description
Inclusion Criteria:
- Left-hemisphere cortical or subcortical stroke;
- Native speaker of German;
- Right-handedness according to the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory (Oldfield, 1971);
- Diagnosis of post-stroke depression, as defined in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-11);
- Diagnosis of aphasia, as confirmed by standardized tests (e.g., Huber et al., 1984); and
- Late subacute or consolidation phase (i.e., 0.5-6 months following stroke) where risk of post-stroke depression is particularly high (Shi et al., 2014).
Exclusion Criteria:
- Other neurological conditions;
- Pre-morbid history of depression;
- Other psychopathological conditions;
- Severely impaired vision or hearing that may prevent participants from engaging in intensive communicative-pragmatic social interaction during therapy or testing, thus adopting routine-healthcare standards from a large-scale phase-III randomized controlled trial (Breitenstein et al., 2017);
- Serious non-verbal cognitive deficits; and
- No informed consent.
Study Plan
How is the study designed?
Design Details
- Primary Purpose: Treatment
- Allocation: Non-Randomized
- Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
- Masking: Double
Arms and Interventions
Participant Group / Arm |
Intervention / Treatment |
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Experimental: Intensive communicative-pragmatic social interaction.
Intensive Language-Action Therapy (ILAT).
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ILAT requires individuals with aphasia to engage in social interaction.
Groups of three patients and a therapist are seated around a table and provided with picture cards showing different objects (e.g., bottle).
Each card has a duplicate that is owned by one of the other players.
The goal is to obtain this duplicate from a fellow player by requesting the depicted object (e.g., "Give me the […]").
If the duplicate is available, the addressee hands over the corresponding card to the person who initiated the request sequence.
If the duplicate is not available, the addressee rejects the request.
In the event of misunderstandings, the players ask clarifying questions.
Throughout the training, participants use formulaic expressions to indicate whether a request is accepted ("Here you are," "Thank you," "You're welcome"), rejected ("I'm sorry," "No problem," "Too bad") or unclear ("Pardon me?").
Treatment duration will be four weeks.
Depending on the participants' diagnoses and needs, standard care will include: occupational therapy (2-3 hours of weekly practice), physiotherapy (3 hours of weekly practice), and speech-language therapy (2-3 hours of weekly practice with non-communicative, impairment-specific exercises).
Standard care will be delivered in accordance with state-of-the-art procedures in rehabilitation centers certified in Germany.
Treatment duration will be four weeks.
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Other: Standard care.
All participants will receive standard care.
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Depending on the participants' diagnoses and needs, standard care will include: occupational therapy (2-3 hours of weekly practice), physiotherapy (3 hours of weekly practice), and speech-language therapy (2-3 hours of weekly practice with non-communicative, impairment-specific exercises).
Standard care will be delivered in accordance with state-of-the-art procedures in rehabilitation centers certified in Germany.
Treatment duration will be four weeks.
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What is the study measuring?
Primary Outcome Measures
Outcome Measure |
Measure Description |
Time Frame |
---|---|---|
Change in Beck's Depression Inventory, BDI.
Time Frame: Change from 1 day before start of treatment until immediately after 4 weeks of treatment.
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This self-report measure of depression severity is derived from a standardized questionnaire known for its good psychometric properties, including construct validity and test-retest reliability, in individuals without aphasia.
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Change from 1 day before start of treatment until immediately after 4 weeks of treatment.
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Change in Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, HAM-D.
Time Frame: Change from 1 day before start of treatment until immediately after 4 weeks of treatment.
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This clinician-rated measure of depression severity is known for its good psychometric properties, including construct validity and test-retest reliability, in individuals without aphasia.
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Change from 1 day before start of treatment until immediately after 4 weeks of treatment.
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Secondary Outcome Measures
Outcome Measure |
Measure Description |
Time Frame |
---|---|---|
Self-Efficacy Questionnaire.
Time Frame: Immediately after 4 weeks of treatment (used as an external criterion to explore the psychometric adequacy of the self-report co-primary outcome, the BDI)
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This self-report questionnaire was conceived to quantify a person's confidence to overcome obstacles encountered when completing a difficult task.
Results are expressed on a Likert scale ranging from 0 (very low self-efficacy) to 3 (very high self-efficacy).
Reduced self-efficacy is discussed as one risk factor for depression.
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Immediately after 4 weeks of treatment (used as an external criterion to explore the psychometric adequacy of the self-report co-primary outcome, the BDI)
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Other Outcome Measures
Outcome Measure |
Measure Description |
Time Frame |
---|---|---|
Change in Aachen Aphasia Test, AAT.
Time Frame: Change from 1 day before start of treatment until immediately after 4 weeks of treatment.
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This standardized aphasia test battery was found to be sensitive to treatment-induced short-term progress in language performance.
To address the potential relationship between changes in cognitive-affective distress and verbal expression skills, we will use the combined AAT subscales "Repetition" and "Naming" as a covariate in exploratory evaluations.
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Change from 1 day before start of treatment until immediately after 4 weeks of treatment.
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Collaborators and Investigators
Sponsor
Investigators
- Principal Investigator: Benjamin Stahl, PhD, University Medicine of Greifswald
- Principal Investigator: Agnes Flöel, MD, University Medicine of Greifswald
Publications and helpful links
General Publications
- Oldfield RC. The assessment and analysis of handedness: the Edinburgh inventory. Neuropsychologia. 1971 Mar;9(1):97-113. doi: 10.1016/0028-3932(71)90067-4. No abstract available.
- Stahl B, Van Lancker Sidtis D. Tapping into neural resources of communication: formulaic language in aphasia therapy. Front Psychol. 2015 Oct 20;6:1526. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01526. eCollection 2015. No abstract available.
- Stahl B, Mohr B, Dreyer FR, Lucchese G, Pulvermuller F. Using language for social interaction: Communication mechanisms promote recovery from chronic non-fluent aphasia. Cortex. 2016 Dec;85:90-99. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2016.09.021. Epub 2016 Oct 15.
- Stahl B, Mohr B, Buscher V, Dreyer FR, Lucchese G, Pulvermuller F. Efficacy of intensive aphasia therapy in patients with chronic stroke: a randomised controlled trial. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2018 Jun;89(6):586-592. doi: 10.1136/jnnp-2017-315962. Epub 2017 Dec 22.
- Breitenstein C, Grewe T, Floel A, Ziegler W, Springer L, Martus P, Huber W, Willmes K, Ringelstein EB, Haeusler KG, Abel S, Glindemann R, Domahs F, Regenbrecht F, Schlenck KJ, Thomas M, Obrig H, de Langen E, Rocker R, Wigbers F, Ruhmkorf C, Hempen I, List J, Baumgaertner A; FCET2EC study group. Intensive speech and language therapy in patients with chronic aphasia after stroke: a randomised, open-label, blinded-endpoint, controlled trial in a health-care setting. Lancet. 2017 Apr 15;389(10078):1528-1538. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30067-3. Epub 2017 Mar 1. Erratum In: Lancet. 2017 Apr 15;389(10078):1518.
- Huber W, Poeck K, Willmes K. The Aachen Aphasia Test. Adv Neurol. 1984;42:291-303. No abstract available.
- Shi YZ, Xiang YT, Wu SL, Zhang N, Zhou J, Bai Y, Wang S, Wang YL, Zhao XQ, Ungvari GS, Chiu HF, Wang YJ, Wang CX. The relationship between frontal lobe lesions, course of post-stroke depression, and 1-year prognosis in patients with first-ever ischemic stroke. PLoS One. 2014 Jul 8;9(7):e100456. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0100456. eCollection 2014.
- Stahl B, Millrose S, Denzler P, Lucchese G, Jacobi F, Floel A. Intensive Social Interaction for Treatment of Poststroke Depression in Subacute Aphasia: The CONNECT Trial. Stroke. 2022 Dec;53(12):3530-3537. doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.122.039995. Epub 2022 Sep 20.
Helpful Links
Study record dates
Study Major Dates
Study Start (Actual)
Primary Completion (Actual)
Study Completion (Actual)
Study Registration Dates
First Submitted
First Submitted That Met QC Criteria
First Posted (Actual)
Study Record Updates
Last Update Posted (Actual)
Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria
Last Verified
More Information
Terms related to this study
Additional Relevant MeSH Terms
- Behavioral Symptoms
- Mental Disorders
- Cardiovascular Diseases
- Vascular Diseases
- Cerebrovascular Disorders
- Brain Diseases
- Central Nervous System Diseases
- Nervous System Diseases
- Mood Disorders
- Neurologic Manifestations
- Neurobehavioral Manifestations
- Language Disorders
- Communication Disorders
- Speech Disorders
- Stroke
- Depression
- Depressive Disorder
- Aphasia
Other Study ID Numbers
- BB 033/17
Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)
Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?
Drug and device information, study documents
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product
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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