VR and Script Training of PWA

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Aphasia, Acquired; Chronic Stroke

Treatments: Behavioral: VR-based script training; Behavioral: Conventional script training

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05667480

P0043271

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goal of this intervention study is to investigate the effects of immersive virtual reality in rehabilitation of language and communication of individuals with post-stroke aphasia. The main research questions are:

1. Is VR-based script training a feasible treatment to Cantonese-speaking PWA?
2. Will VR-based script training, when compared to conventional script training, better enhance treatment outcomes in functional communication of PWA?

Participants will be assessed before, in the middle of, immediately after treatment and 8-week post treatment in terms of their performance on:

1. Accuracy and time for producing trained scripts.
2. Accuracy and time for producing un-trained scripts
3. Standardized aphasia test on severity of language impairment
4. Standardized aphasia test on functional communication

The participants will be randomly allocated to receive one of the treatment:

1. Virtual reality-based computerized script training; or
2. Computerized script training without virtual reality Researchers will compare the treatment outcomes of the two treatment conditions and see if treatment with virtual reality would better promote outcomes when compared to training without virtual reality.

Enrollment: 26 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 30 to 80 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

1. a stroke onset more than six months, with an Aphasia Quotient (AQ) below 96.4, as evaluated by the Cantonese version of Western Aphasia Battery (CAB; Yiu, 1992),
2. premorbid fluent Cantonese speakers,
3. aged between 30 and 80 years,
4. no reported progressive neurogenic disorders such as dementia or Parkinson's disease,
5. no motor speech disorders of moderate to severe level, and
6. normal or corrected-to-normal vision and hearing functions

Exclusion criteria

1. concurrent participation in other aphasia treatment trials, and
2. incompatibility with immersive VR exposure such as complains of nausea, headache, or other severe discomforts during trial use of a head-mounted device during screening.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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26 participants in 2 patient groups

VR-based script training

Experimental group

Treatment:

Behavioral: VR-based script training

Conventional script training

Active Comparator group

Treatment:

Behavioral: Conventional script training