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Completed

NCT Number: NCT02898558

Effect of Body Representation in Movement

This study explores the possible implications of the increase in perceived body size for rehabilitation of motor functions. In a recent study we have tested if motor abilities of patients with stroke improve wearing magnifying lenses, showing that a beneficial effect of magnifying lenses can be observed in some patients. In the present study, we will identify 12 patients from this cohort who demonstrated an improvement greater than 10% in one or two motor task when wearing magnifying glasses. These participants will be invited to take part in a clinical study in which they will undergo a training phase: subjects will wear magnifying lenses at home for 30 minutes daily for 14 days while completing a jigsaw puzzle; a log will be kept to document participation. Participants' performance on different motor tasks will be assessed before, immediately after and 1 month after the training session. Standardized measures of motor performance will include the the Action Research Arm test and the Rivermead Assessment of Somatosensory Performance (RASP). In addition, participants will undergo grip strength, finger tapping tasks and a reaching and grasping task. We expect the repeated use of magnifying lenses to generate an improvement of patients' performance across tasks and this effect to be persistent in time.

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Key information

Conditions

Stroke Brain Diseases Cardiovascular Diseases Central Nervous System Diseases Cerebrovascular Disorders Nervous System Diseases Vascular Diseases

Age range

50 year–80 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

About this study

Altering the apparent size of a body part with magnifying changes tactile acuity, tactile distance judgments and pain perception.

In a recent study we have tested if motor abilities (grip strength, finger tapping and reaching and grasping) of patients with stroke improve wearing magnifying lenses. The results of this study showed that a beneficial effect of magnifying lenses on movement can be observed in some patients with stroke. The present study aims at following up these results and investigating the possible use of magnifying lenses in the rehabilitation to improve motor controls of stroke patients.

To pursuit this aim, we will identify 12 patients in our previous study cohort who demonstrated an improvement greater than 10% in the grip strength or finger tapping task when wearing magnifying glasses. These participants will be invited to take part in the present clinical study in which they will undergo a training phase: subjects will wear magnifying lenses at home for 30 minutes daily for 14 days while completing a jigsaw puzzle; a log will be kept to document participation. Participants' performance on different motor tasks will be assessed before, immediately after and 1 month after the training session. Standardized measures of motor performance will include the the Action Research Arm test and the Rivermead Assessment of Somatosensory Performance (RASP). In addition, participants will undergo grip strength (6 trials), finger tapping tasks (6 trials) and a reaching and grasping task, inn which they will be asked to reach and grasp 3 different objects (30 trials). We expect the repeated use of magnifying lenses to generate an improvement of patients' performance across task and this effect to be persistent in time.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Patients suffering from stroke who showed an improvement with magnifying lenses in our previous study.

Exclusion criteria

  • Patients suffering from stroke who did not show an improvement with magnifying lenses in our previous study.

Treatment and study plan

Magnification hand size

Behavioral

Participants will use magnifying lenses while completing a jigsaw puzzle for 30 min a day for 14 days.

magnifying lenses

Device

Primary outcomes

  1. Action Research Arm test

    Time frame: Baseline, immediately after the training (two weeks) and after one month

    19 item measure of motor control (i.e. (grasp, grip, pinch, and gross arm movement). Max score is 57

Secondary outcomes

  1. Rivermead Assessment of Somatosensory Performance

    Time frame: Baseline, immediately after the training (two weeks) and after one month

    Battery designed to test somatosensory functions, comprising of 7 subtests (sharp/dull discrimination, surface pressure touch, surface localization, sensory extinction, two-point discrimination, temperature discrimination, proprioception movement and direction discrimination). Max score for each subtest is 60, except for sensory extinction (max is 12) and two-point discrimination (fail or pass).

  2. Grip strength

    Time frame: Baseline, immediately after the training (two weeks) and after one month

    A grip dynamometer measures participants' grip strength

  3. Finger tapping

    Time frame: Baseline, immediately after the training (two weeks) and after one month

    Electronic tapping test measures participants' tapping rate of the index finger

  4. Reach and grasping

    Time frame: Baseline, immediately after the training (two weeks) and after one month

    Motion tracking equipment used to measure participants kinematic parameters (movement time, peak velocity, grip aperture, etc.) when reaching and grasping 3 objects, for a total of 30 movements.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Pennsylvania

Other

Collaborators

  • Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute

Registry information

Important dates

Study start
2016
Primary completion
2017
Study completion
2017
First posted
Sep 13, 2016
Registry last updated
Nov 30, 2017

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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