ClinicalTrials.Veeva

Menu

Task-Related Training of Arm Use After Stroke

U

University of Melbourne

Status

Completed

Conditions

Stroke

Treatments

Behavioral: task-specific training

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

Identifiers

NCT00222339
H2001/01313

Details and patient eligibility

About

Stroke is the leading cause of long-term physical disability in Australia. Currently around 25% of hemiplegic stroke patients discharged from rehabilitation have significantly impaired use of the affected hand with consequent dependence in dressing, grooming and feeding themselves. The poor outcome can be attributed in part to a lack of focus by therapists on the negative signs of stroke (weakness and lack of dexterity) as well as too little time (around 10 minutes per day) being devoted to retraining of the arm. Presently there is a very limited evidence base to guide the content of clinical practice. Results from both animal and human studies suggest that specific post-lesion training can result in substantial improvement in function. The hypothesis is that task-specific training of the affected upper limb to subjects in the early period following stroke will result in significantly better functional outcome than standard intervention.

Full description

Stroke is the leading cause of long-term physical disability in Australia. Currently around 25% of hemiplegic stroke patients discharged from rehabilitation have significantly impaired use of the affected hand with consequent dependence in dressing, grooming and feeding themselves. The poor outcome can be attributed in part to a lack of focus by therapists on the negative signs of stroke (weakness and lack of dexterity) as well as too little time (around 10 minutes per day) being devoted to retraining of the arm. Presently there is a very limited evidence base to guide the content of clinical practice. Results from both animal and human studies suggest that specific post-lesion training modulates physiological changes that take place in undamaged tissue. It is probable that this training induces use-dependent patterns of neural activity that can selectively drive the reorganization of the undamaged cortical areas and thereby improve the functional outcome for the arm and hand. We have developed a task-specific training program for the upper limb that is unique in a) the focus on performance of functional tasks, and b) the intensity of practice, with patients practising the tasks both during and outside of therapy sessions.

Comparisons: A 3-week daily task-specific training of the affected upper limb compared to a control intervention that does not involve upper limb training. Both interventions are additional to the standard rehabilitation program.

Outcomes measured pre- and post-intervention and 3 months follow-up. Outcome measures include: variables grip and pinch force, dexterity, arm use and quality of life. Severity of stroke, classified according to the upper arm sub-test of the Motor Assessment Scale, will be used as a covariate.

Sex

All

Ages

18+ years old

Volunteers

No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

  • within 6 weeks of first stroke
  • unilateral stroke
  • impaired arm function
  • able to cope with intensive training program
  • medically stable
  • able to understand instructions

Exclusion criteria

  • uncontrolled systemic disease
  • significant musculotendinous or bony restrictions of the affected upper limb
  • any serious chronic disease independently causing significant disability of the affected limb

Trial design

Primary purpose

Treatment

Allocation

Randomized

Interventional model

Parallel Assignment

Masking

Single Blind

Trial contacts and locations

1

Loading...

Data sourced from clinicaltrials.gov

Clinical trials

Find clinical trialsTrials by location
© Copyright 2025 Veeva Systems