Telerehabilitation in Severe Acquired Brain Injury

IRCCS Centro Neurolesi "Bonino-Pulejo"

Status: Unknown

Conditions: Brain Injuries; Stroke

Treatments: Device: TR Treatment

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03709875

08/2018

Details and patient eligibility

About

We will investigate the use of TR, based on advanced Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solutions, taking into account that the supervision of rehabilitation at home will be enriched with the counselling and vital parameters monitoring. The aim of the study is to evaluate that TR is at least non-inferior in comparison with the same amount of usual territorial rehabilitative physical treatments (UTRT), taking into account patients' functional recovery, psychological well-being, caregiver burden, and healthcare costs. The enrolled patients will be balanced for pathology and randomized in two groups, performing TR (G1) or standard rehabilitation training (G2), respectively, according to a pc-generated random assignment.TR will be delivered by means of an advanced video-conferencing system, whereas the patient will be provided with low-cost monitoring devices, able to collect data about his/her health status and QoL. In both the groups each treatment (either cognitive or motor, or both as per patient functional status) will last about one hour a day, five days/week, for 12 weeks. Two structured telephone interviews will be administered to the patients (when possible) and/or their caregivers, and to all the healthcare professionals involved in the patient management, one week after the beginning and at the end of the TR.

Enrollment: 40 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 65 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Inclusion Criteria:age range 18 to 65 years; diagnosis of SABI; availability at home internet connection.

Exclusion Criteria: severe cognitive and behavioral impairments, cardio-respiratory instability or other medical illness potentially interfering with the treatment, severe limb spasticity, high-risk of spontaneous fracture, substance abuse.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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40 participants in 2 patient groups

TR Treatment

Experimental group

Description:

TR will be delivered by means of an advanced video-conferencing system, and patients will be provided with low-cost monitoring devices, able to collect data about the health status and QoL. All treatments from remote are based on scheduled videoconferences between the patient's home and the Clinical Units, and therapists can control and modify the exercises. A virtual reality based system, consisting of two PC-based workstations, located at the patient's home and at the rehabilitation center, will be used. For the motor treatments the patient has to move the real end effector, following the trajectory of the corresponding virtual task displayed on his computer screen. The speech and cognitive exercises will be delivered from the two Research Institutes to the patient's home.

Treatment:

Device: TR Treatment

Conventional Treatment

Other group

Description:

In this group patients will be treated with conventional physiotherapy and speech training, adjusted in reason of the clinical needs, as usually. Treatments for motor limbs activity will be focused on functional active-assistive and active exercises. Conventional "paper and pencil" training will be used to improve cognitive function.

Treatment:

Device: TR Treatment