Virtual Seating Coach on Power Wheelchairs of Persons With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) (ALS)

Virtual Seating Coach on Power Wheelchairs of Persons With ALS

A literature review was completed related to the topic of use of the Virtual Seating Coach (VSC) device with clients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) with no results. The VSC components are FDA approved and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) compliant, which have been used for many years by clinicians to achieve therapy goals of repositioning and best practice of utilizing power wheelchair seat functioning on a frequent basis. The VSC is typically not covered by insurance, but with clinical documentation, it has the potential for reimbursement. There is conflicting and vague information in the literature with regards to the prevalence/types of wounds and prevalence of pain in this population.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Virtual Seating Coach

Detailed Description

According to most literature, clients with ALS in general, get few pressure injuries. At this clinic, however, potentially due to the longer life expectancy of clients who choose tracheostomy with mechanical ventilation and a feeding tube, some clients do get pressure injuries. Also, many clients once they are sitting most of the day, whether in the wheelchair, recliner or bed, complain of discomfort and pain. Most clients will use or require a power wheelchair for mobility and positioning in the course of the disease process, and many will require it full time as symptoms progress. Generally, decreased sensation is not a symptom of ALS, but it is unknown why some people with ALS have pain and pressure injuries despite the intact sensation needed to cue repositioning.

It is best clinical practice to provide clients with ALS power wheelchairs that tilt, recline, and have leg elevation for maximal pressure management and to encourage repositioning to reduce the risk of skin breakdown/pressure injury as well as decrease pain. This study will study the effect of having an alerting/coaching system for training and reminders on performing pressure relief and repositioning for decreasing the number of pressure injuries as well as decreasing pain. The VSC also gives contextual cues to achieve a specific angle set-up by the clinician. Not only does the VSC provide alerts, but the client and clinician can observe and track the amount of time the chair is on and in what position.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 39
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • North Carolina
    • Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, 28207
      • Atrium Health - Neurosciences Institute

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

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

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Treatment group:

• Inclusion will be diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
• Current clinic client at The Carolinas Neuromuscular ALS/MDA Center's Multidisciplinary ALS clinic
• Currently using a Permobil power wheelchair with power seating with R-Net electronics that accepts the VSC
• Has a Permobil Corpus 3G (6 months old or newer) or who order a new Permobil power wheelchair.
• New Permobil chairs which are not obtained through this clinic will also be able to enter the study, such as chairs from other regions or from the Veteran's Administration.

Comparison group:

• Inclusion will be diagnosis of ALS
• Current clinic client at The Carolinas Neuromuscular ALS/Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) Center's multidisciplinary ALS clinic
• Currently using a power wheelchair with power seating.
• New chairs which are not obtained through this clinic will also be able to enter the study, such as chairs from other regions or from the Veteran's Administration.

Exclusion Criteria:

Treatment group:

• Another diagnosis besides ALS
• Does not have a Smart phone or tablet
• Frontotemporal Dementia as noted by MD/SLP/SW (Medical Doctor/Speech Language Pathologist/Social Worker) in medical records
• Inability/unwillingness to control wheelchair power features (client)
• Unwillingness to be monitored by study staff and alerted by VSC over time
• Uses other mobility devices indoors (scooter, basic power wheelchair) more than or in addition to Permobil PWC

Comparison group:

• Another diagnosis besides ALS
• Frontotemporal Dementia as noted by MD/SLP/SW in medical records
• Inability/unwillingness to control wheelchair power features (client)
• Unwillingness to be monitored by study staff
• Uses other mobility devices indoors (scooter, basic power wheelchair) more than or in addition to power wheelchair
• Further exclusions may be added in future protocol versions

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Virtual Seating Coach; The Virtual Seating Coach is a context-aware reminding system that when set up by a clinician, directly benefits a user by reminding him or her to change position with the chair's power seating function.. Regular position changes increase independent function, reduce the risk of pressure ulcers, manage pain, and reduce swelling.	Behavioral: Virtual Seating Coach; Power wheelchair intervention
No Intervention: Non Virtual Seating Coach; power wheelchairs that tilt, recline, and have leg elevation for maximal pressure management and to encourage repositioning to reduce the risk of skin breakdown/pressure injury as well as decrease pain.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in seat function utilization with use of the Virtual Seating Coach (VSC)	tracked through the Virtual Seating Coach app and Permobil data collection	Year 3
Change in number of Complications	Pressure and pain questions measured using a Likert Scale - A type of psychometric response scale in which responders specify their level of agreement to a statement typically in five points: (1) Strongly disagree; (2) Disagree; (3) Neither agree nor disagree; (4) Agree; (5) Strongly agree.	Year 3

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Utilization of VSC	If limitations are addressed (respiratory, cushion, comfort, control) does utilization increase? - evaluated with surveys and phone calls	Year 3

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Wake Forest University Health Sciences
• Collaborators: Permobil, Inc.
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Amber Ward, MS, OTR/L, Carolinas Neuromuscular ALS/MDA Center

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): September 20, 2017
• Primary Completion (Actual): March 31, 2020
• Study Completion (Actual): March 31, 2020

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 15, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 15, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): February 24, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): May 5, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 3, 2023
• Last Verified: February 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: pain; Power wheelchairs; pressure injuries
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pathologic Processes; Metabolic Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Neuromuscular Diseases; Neurodegenerative Diseases; Spinal Cord Diseases; TDP-43 Proteinopathies; Proteostasis Deficiencies; Sclerosis; Motor Neuron Disease; Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
• Other Study ID Numbers: IRB00082646

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