Interoception in Stroke

Association of Interoception With Somatosensory Function, Proprioception, and Balance in Patients With Hemiplegia

This study aims to examine the associations of interoceptive awareness and interoceptive accuracy with plantar superficial sensory threshold, knee joint proprioception, pain intensity, and dynamic balance performance in cognitively intact individuals with chronic hemiplegia.

Hypotheses are:

• H0: There is no significant relationship between interoception and light touch, proprioception, pain, or dynamic balance performance in cognitively intact individuals with chronic hemiplegia.
• H1: There is a significant relationship between interoception and light touch, proprioception, pain, or dynamic balance performance in cognitively intact individuals with chronic hemiplegia All participants will undergo a single assessment session and will not be invited for any treatment or follow-up evaluation. Participants will not take any intervention.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Stroke

Detailed Description

Participants will not take any intervention.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Estimated): 60

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Çiçek Günday, Asst. Prof.; Phone Number: +90 850 283 60 00; Email: cicek.gunday@istinye.edu.tr
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Hande Ateş

Study Locations

• Turkey (Türkiye)
  • Istanbul, Turkey (Türkiye)
    • Recruiting
    • Liv Hospital Topkapi
    • Contact: Deputy Chief Physician; Phone Number: +90 444 66 23; Email: ik@livhospital.com.tr

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

• Sampling Method: Probability Sample

Study Population

Outpatient stroke patients from a university hospital

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Presence of hemiplegia due to a physician-diagnosed stroke,
• At least 6 months have passed since the stroke,
• Voluntary agreement to participate in the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

• History of traumatic brain injury, brain tumor, meningitis, or secondary neurological disease,
• Having experienced a cardiovascular event or any acute medical condition within the last 3 months,
• Insufficient visual or auditory ability to understand the questionnaires and tests.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Interoceptive Accuracy	Heartbeat Counting Task	Day 1
Proprioception Assessment	Joint Position Reconstruction Test for the 45 degrees knee flexion.	Day 1
Functional Mobility and Balance	Timed-up and Go Test	Day 1
Functional Lower Extremity Strength	5 Times Sit-to-Stand Test	Day 1
Interoceptive Awareness	The Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness Version 2 (MAIA-2) consists of eight subscales, each scored from 0 to 5. Higher scores indicate greater interoceptive awareness in the corresponding domain.	Day 1

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Light Touch Sensation	Semmes-Weinstein Monofilament Test on the plantar surface of the foot	Day 1
Subjective Pain	The Numeric Rating Scale for Lower Extremity Pain Severity is an 11-point scale ranging from 0 to 10, where 0 indicates no pain and 10 indicates the worst pain imaginable. Higher scores indicate greater pain severity.	Day 1
Fear of Falling	The Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I) consists of 16 items, with a total score ranging from 16 to 64. Higher scores indicate greater concern about falling (greater fear of falling).	Day 1

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Istinye University
• Investigators: Study Chair: Orge Fatoş Demirtaş, Topkapi Liv Hospital; Study Chair: Mona Abualkas, Istinye University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): June 20, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 25, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 25, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 15, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 24, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): June 25, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): July 2, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 1, 2026
• Last Verified: July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Fear of falling; Joint position sense; Plantar sensation
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Cerebrovascular Disorders; Brain Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Vascular Diseases; Cardiovascular Diseases; Stroke
• Other Study ID Numbers: 150620262

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