The Effects of Cognitive Dual-Tasking in Later Stages of Rehabilitation After ACL Reconstruction (AMIRA)

University Ghent

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Athrogenic Muscle Responses; Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction; ACL Injury

Treatments: Other: Cognitive dual task training (intervention group); Other: Standard of care physiotherapy (control group)

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06206200

ONZ-2023-0365

Details and patient eligibility

About

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are common in sports and often require a long and challenging rehabilitation process. Athletes who sustain these injuries typically engage in pivoting and cutting sports, where these motor tasks must be performed simultaneously with cognitive tasks such as decision-making and keeping an eye on the opponent. Directing attention to both cognitive and motor tasks leads to cognitive-motor interference, which is associated with movement patterns that increase the risk of ACL (re)injury.

Therefore, it is crucial that before returning to such demanding sports after ACL reconstruction, athletes sufficiently develop and automate safe yet efficient motor skills to free up attentional capacity for decision-making, thereby reducing the risk of suboptimal movement patterns and reinjury.

However, current rehabilitation programs often primarily focus on the motor component in a single-task manner, giving insufficient attention to the cognitive component that is inseparable from sports.

This randomized controlled trial aims to investigate the effects of implementing motor-cognitive dual tasks in the end phase rehabilitation after ACL reconstruction on muscle function, functional outcomes, and patient-reported outcomes.

Enrollment: 80 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 40 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• 18-40 years old.
• Having suffered an ACL rupture.
• Undergoing a surgical ACL reconstruction in the AZ Delta hospital in Roeselare (Campus Brugsesteenweg).

Exclusion criteria

• Revision ACL reconstruction.
• Other severe injuries to the lower limbs within the past year.
• Muscle or neurological disorders affecting lower limb functioning.
• Fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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80 participants in 2 patient groups

Dual task training

Experimental group

Description:

Patients will recieve 12 sessions (2x/week) of standard of care exercise-based physiotherapy with implementation of cognitive dual task training. This implies that the patients will perform cognitive tasks simultaneously during at least 50% of their physical rehabilitative exercises.

Treatment:

Other: Cognitive dual task training (intervention group)

Standard of care physiotherapy

Active Comparator group

Description:

Patients will recieve 12 sessions (2x/week) of standard of care exercise-based physiotherapy without implementation of cognitive dual task training.

Treatment:

Other: Standard of care physiotherapy (control group)