Telerehabilitation-Based Action Observation Treatment in Children with Hemiparetic Cerebral Palsy

Marmara University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Hemiparetic Cerebral Palsy

Treatments: Other: Synchronous telerehabilitation group; Other: Asynchronous telerehabilitation group

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05349136

09.2020.1353

Details and patient eligibility

About

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of action observation therapy applied using two different telerehabilitation techniques (synchronous and asynchronous) to children with hemiparetic cerebral palsy.

Full description

Action observation treatment (AOT) is a new rehabilitation technique. AOT involves the observation of purposeful actions, presented through a video-clip or performed by an operator, in order to imitate and then perform them. In this study, AOT will be applied by observing actions to be presented via video-clips. 36 children with hemiparetic cerebral palsy who meet the inclusion criteria and agree to participate in the study will be included. The participants will be randomly divided into three groups. The groups are: a) the synchronous telerehabilitation group, where AOT will be applied under the supervision of a physiotherapist via videoconferencing; b) the asynchronous telerehabilitation group, where AOT will be applied under parental supervision; and c) control group. Both the synchronous telerehabilitation group and the asynchronous telerehabilitation group will receive AOT 5 days a week for 3 weeks, for a total of 15 sessions, in addition to conventional physiotherapy. The control group will only receive conventional physiotherapy. A total of three evaluations will be made at baseline (T0), at the end of treatment (T1), and at two months of follow-up (T2).

Enrollment: 36 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 6 to 12 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Presence of confirmed hemiparetic cerebral palsy
• Manual Ability Classification System ≤ 3
• Age between 6 and 12
• Absence of major visual and/or auditory deficits
• Sufficient cooperation to comprehend and complete the test procedure and participate in treatment
• House Functional Classification Score ≥4
• Grade ≤2 on the Modified Ashworth Scale

Exclusion criteria

• Seizures uncontrolled by therapy
• Surgery and/or botulinum toxin-A injections in the upper limb within 6 months prior to the baseline assessment
• Having a disabling behavioral disorder to treatment

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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36 participants in 3 patient groups

Synchronous telerehabilitation group

Experimental group

Description:

Synchronous telerehabilitation based-Action Observation Treatment and conventional physiotherapy

Treatment:

Other: Synchronous telerehabilitation group

Asynchronous telerehabilitation group

Experimental group

Description:

Asynchronous telerehabilitation based-Action Observation Treatment and conventional physiotherapy

Treatment:

Other: Asynchronous telerehabilitation group

Control group

No Intervention group

Description:

Conventional physiotherapy