Effect of Participation in Virtual Exercise Sessions in Persons With Aphasia

California State University, East Bay

Status: Completed

Conditions: Aphasia, Acquired

Treatments: Behavioral: Online aphasia-adapted physical activity class

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05455463

CSUEB-IRB-2020-83

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of this study is to test the feasibility and acceptability of an online exercise program for community-dwelling individuals with aphasia, a language disorder resulting from brain damage. Physical activity, language, cognitive, and quality of life outcomes will be collected to assess potential effectiveness.

Full description

Approximately one-third of stroke survivors have aphasia, acquired language difficulty that affects the ability speak and understand others. However, despite documented benefits of interventions to promote physical activity (PA) after stroke, including improved health-related quality of life (QoL), social and emotional benefits, and improved cognition, individuals with aphasia are often excluded from this research due to their communication difficulties. This is particularly concerning, given that individuals with aphasia are at greater risk of social isolation and depression compared to stroke survivors without aphasia. Presently, limited research has been conducted that examines the effect of PA interventions in individuals with aphasia although preliminary findings suggest that benefits may exist across domains (health and disability).

This study aims to better understand how PA affects the lives of individuals with aphasia. Given weekly tele-instruction in PA over 10 weeks, participants' levels of PA will be monitored for the duration of the study. Pre- and post-treatment measures of cognitive ability, QoL, and aphasia severity will be collected and analyzed to characterize intervention effects. The results of this study will provide insight into whether PA may be an important component of future aphasia treatment.

Enrollment: 28 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Presence of aphasia
• Able to join exercise classes over Zoom

Exclusion criteria

• None

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Non-Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

---

28 participants in 2 patient groups

Online aphasia-adapted physical activity class

Experimental group

Description:

Will receive the physical activity intervention.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Online aphasia-adapted physical activity class

Usual routine control

No Intervention group

Description:

Engage in physical activity per usual routine.