Video-supervised Motor and Awareness Training in Writer's Cramp

Treatment Effect and Relevance on Daily Life of a Video-supervised Sensorimotor Training Program and Its Influence on the Pathophysiology in Writer's Cramp

Writer's cramp is the most common task-specific dystonia. It is characterized by involuntary co-contraction of antagonistic muscles during writing. This disabling condition may force patients to give up their occupation. In this study the efficacy of a twelve months long-term training in patients with writer's cramp will be investigated. Two different programs will be offered: The first one will consist of a sensorimotor, the second one of an awareness training. All patients will benefit from video-based supervision with the aim to establish a practice-oriented therapeutic approach that will be available to all patients independently of their home location. The treatment effect will be measured primary with the patient-centered Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) and secondary with clinical scales to assess the clinical efficacy and everyday constraints. Writing will be assessed with a computer-based kinematic writing analysis. To evaluate the influence on the brain network, several functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) evaluations will be performed. This project is of minimal risk without negative side effects from the training. The risks for the MRI experiment are equal to a non-contrast standard MRI investigation.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Writer's Cramp
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: motor training; Behavioral: mindfulness exercises

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 54
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Kirsten E Zeuner, Prof. MD; Phone Number: 0049 0431-500-23801; Email: k.zeuner@neurologie.uni-kiel.de
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Arne Knutzen, M.Sc. OT; Phone Number: 0049 0431-500-23801; Email: a.knutzen@neurologie.uni-kiel.de

Study Locations

• Germany
  • Schleswig-Holstein
    • Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, 24105
      • Recruiting
      • Kiel University
      • Contact: Kirsten E Zeuner, Prof. MD; Phone Number: 0049 0431-500-23801; Email: k.zeuner@neurologie.uni-kiel.de

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 80 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Right handed idiopathic WC according to standardized criteria (simple and complex WC, any dystonic posture (including flexion, extension, pronation, supination))
• able to participate in video-calls

Exclusion Criteria:

• Additional neurological or psychiatric diseases
• left-handed patients
• last botulinum toxin treatment <3 months, remaining weakness from the last injection
• concomitant use of anticholinergics or sedating medication

Exclusion criteria for MRI:

• Cardiac pacemaker, electronic or metal implants
• pregnancy or suspected pregnancy
• severe ametropia, anxiety in small rooms

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: motor training; intervention: motor training	Behavioral: motor training; In the sensorimotor training program task-specific and non-task specific aspects will be combined. It will start with assignments to improve general finger and wrist movements. After four weeks more specific writing exercises will be added.
Active Comparator: awareness training; intervention: mindfulness exercises	Behavioral: mindfulness exercises; The awareness training will contain mindfulness exercises. The goal is to consciously experience the here and now in sensual perception of oneself and the environment.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Canadian Occupational Performance Measure	The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure will serve as the primary outcome measure. Patients grade their self-perceived performance and satisfaction of writing related occupations in daily life in respect to the goals they had identified and prioritized. The COPM ist patient centered end reflects the real life of the participants.	Change from baseline to month 4, 8, 12

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
kinematic writing analysis	The kinematic handwriting analysis will be performed on a pressure sensitive digitizing tablet, that is connected to a laptop to measure movements of the pencil during writing. Regularity of writing will be calculated from this data. All subjects will write a standardized sentence and draw superimposed circles to characterize handwriting movements.	Change from baseline to month 4, 8, 12
Writer's Cramp Rating Scale	The video based Writer's Cramp Rating Scale will serve as a secondary outcome parameter. The videos are rated by a blinded movement disorder specialist according to flexion / extension of arm / wrist / fingers during writing.	Change from baseline to month 4, 8, 12
writing during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)	During this task participants will be instructed to a) write a sentence using an MR-compatible tablet and b) imagine writing in randomized order. The task is performed during a fMRI measurement. With the imaginary task artefacts are avoided and activation during movement planning will be investigated in the fMRI.	Change from baseline to month 4, 8, 12
qualitative interviews	The purpose of the semi-structured qualitative interviews about the training procedures is to optimize the training and to differentiate between responders and non-responders. The interviews will be will be transcribed word-for-word and analyzed using the qualitative content analysis.	Change from baseline to month 4, 12
Arm Dystonia Disability Scale	The Arm Dystonia Disability Scale will be applied to assess how dystonia interferes with manual activities during daily life (writing, buttoning, hygiene, eating, job or household).	Change from baseline to month 4, 8, 12
Serial Reaction Time Task during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)	The Serial Reaction Time Task is a standardized method to investigate motor sequence learning and to induce cerebellar activation. We expect that abnormal cerebellar activity in patients compared to controls normalizes after training.	Change from baseline to month 4, 8, 12

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Kirsten E Zeuner, Prof. MD, Kiel University

Publications and helpful links

Helpful Links

• Baur B, et.al. Effects of modified pen grip and handwriting training on writer's cramp. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2009;90(5):867-875.
• Bleton JP, Vidailhet M, Bourdain F, Ducorps A, Schwartz D, et al. Somatosensory cortical remodelling after rehabilitation and clinical benefit of in writer's cramp. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2011;82(5):574-577.
• Castrop F, Dresel C, Hennenlotter A, Zimmer C, Haslinger B. Basal ganglia-premotor dysfunction during movement imagination in writer's cramp. Mov Disord 2012;27(11):1432-1439.
• Delnooz CC, Helmich RC, Medendorp WP, Van de Warrenburg BP, Toni I. Writer's cramp: increased dorsal premotor activity during intended writing. Hum Brain Mapp 2013;34(3):613-625.
• Gallea C, Horovitz SG, Najee-Ullah M, Hallett M. Impairment of a parieto-premotor network specialized for handwriting in writer's cramp. Hum Brain Mapp 2016;37(12):4363-4375.
• Granert O, Peller M, Gaser C, Groppa S, Hallett M, Knutzen A, Deuschl G, Zeuner KE, Siebner HR. Manual activity shapes structure and function in contralateral human motor hand area. Neuroimage 2011;54(1):32-41.
• Hallett M. Pathophysiology of writer's cramp. Hum Mov Sci 2006;25(4-5):454-463.
• Planton S, Longcamp M, Peran P, Demonet JF, Jucla M. How specialized are writing-specific brain regions? An fMRI study of writing, drawing and oral spelling. Cortex 2017;88:66-80.
• Rothkirch I, Granert O, Knutzen A, Wolff S, et al. Dynamic causal modeling revealed dysfunctional effective connectivity in both, the cortico-basal-ganglia and the cerebello-cortical motor network in writers' cramp. Neuroimage Clin 2018;18:149-159.
• Shakkottai VG, Batla A, Bhatia K , Dauer WT, Dresel C, et al. Current Opinions and Areas of Consensus on the Role of the Cerebellum in Dystonia. Cerebellum 2017;16(2):577-594.
• Stahl CM, Frucht SJ. Focal task specific dystonia: a review and update. J Neurol 2017;264(7):1536-1541.
• Zeuner KE, Shill HA, Sohn YH, Molloy FM, Thornton BC, Dambrosia JM, Hallett M. Motor training as treatment in focal hand dystonia. Mov Disord 2005;20(3):335-341.
• Zeuner KE, Peller M, Knutzen A, et al. How to assess motor impairment in writer's cramp. Mov Disord 2007;22(8):1102-1109.
• Zeuner KE, Molloy FM. Abnormal reorganization in focal hand dystonia-sensory and motor training programs to retrain cortical function. NeuroRehabilitation 2008;23(1):43-53.
• Zeuner KE, Peller M, Knutzen A, Hallett M, Deuschl G, Siebner HR. Motor re-training does not need to be task specific to improve writer's cramp. Mov Disord 2008;23(16):2319-2327.
• Zeuner KE, Knutzen A, Granert O, et al. Increased volume and impaired function: the role of the basal ganglia in writer's cramp. Brain Behav 2015;5(2):e00301.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): June 26, 2020
• Primary Completion (Estimated): January 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): January 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 10, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 26, 2020
• First Posted (Actual): November 2, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): December 10, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 9, 2024
• Last Verified: December 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: functional magnetic resonance imaging; training; dystonia; kinematic writing analysis; COPM
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neurologic Manifestations; Musculoskeletal Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Muscular Diseases; Neuromuscular Manifestations; Movement Disorders; Dystonic Disorders; Muscle Cramp
• Other Study ID Numbers: DE 579/17

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