Feasibility Testing of Cognitive Strategy Training in Post-Concussive Syndrome

Brain Concussion Clinical Trial

Official title:

Feasibility Testing of Cognitive Strategy Training in Post-Concussive Syndrome

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT04681742
• Other study ID #: 2019802
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: October 15, 2020
• Est. completion date: December 31, 2022

Study information

• Verified date: March 2023
• Source: University of Missouri-Columbia
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

This study will evaluate the practicality (i.e. acceptability to stakeholders; outcome battery feasibility; recruitment, retention, and adherence rates) and the preliminary effect of a cognitive strategy training intervention in adults with post-concussive syndrome.

Description:

Up to 90% of known traumatic brain injuries are classified as mild, with many more injuries likely going undetected. While each of these individuals experiences somatic, cognitive, and/or affective symptoms acutely following the injury, an estimated 10-15% will continue to experience these symptoms for months up to a year post-injury. The persistence of symptoms for three months or greater is termed post-concussive syndrome (PCS) and can lead to decreases in academics, job performance, leisure, daily life activities, and routines. Traditionally, rehabilitation is either not provided to these individuals or has a specific focus on alleviating impairments (e.g. sustained attention) instead of mitigating effects on daily life function. Transfer of improvements in said impairments is known to be limited. Cognitive Orientation to daily Occupational Performance (CO-OP), a type of metacognitive strategy training, has known positive effects on activity performance outcomes in acquired brain injury (e.g. subacute and chronic stroke; moderate traumatic brain injury)1-5. CO-OP has yet to be evaluated in a sample of individuals with PCS. In sum, (1) CO-OP is an evidence-based intervention for improving activity performance, and (2) it is reasonable to hypothesize that the positive effects of CO-OP may be applied in PCS to overcome similar cognitive difficulties to improve activity performance.

The central research hypothesis is that a functionally-oriented metacognitive strategy training intervention, CO-OP, will be feasible and have a positive effect on activity performance in individuals with PCS syndrome. A single-group, prospective design with outcomes gathered pre-and post-intervention will be used (n=15) to evaluate the acceptability and feasibility of CO-OP in PCS. We will also be evaluating effect size on outcome measures of activity performance and perceptions of the functional impact of PCS symptoms.

Specific Aim 1: Determine the feasibility of CO-OP in Post-Concussive Syndrome. Hypothesis 1.1: Participants will report positive perceptions of the intervention via scores greater than 3 on the Client-Satisfaction Questionnaire. Hypothesis 1.2: The study will demonstrate acceptable recruitment, retention, and adherence rates. Hypothesis 1.3: The proposed assessment battery will be feasible (average completion time <2 hours).

Specific Aim 2: Explore the preliminary effect of CO-OP in a sample of individuals with PCS on activity performance outcomes. Hypothesis 2.1: The CO-OP group will demonstrate improvements in activity performance outcomes.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 15
• Est. completion date: December 31, 2022
• Est. primary completion date: December 31, 2022
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years to 60 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Participants will be included if have a physician diagnosis of mTBI or if they meet the following criteria for mild traumatic brain injury established by the American Congress of rehabilitation Medicine including a traumatically induced physiological disruption of brain function, as manifested by at least one of the following: any loss of consciousness, any loss of memory for events immediately before or after the accident, any alteration in mental state at the time of the accident (e.g., feeling dazed, disoriented, or confused), and focal neurologic deficit(s) that may or may not be transient; severity of injury should not exceed a loss of consciousness >30 minutes, at 30 minutes post-injury a Glasgow Coma Scale score more severe than 13-15, or post-traumatic amnesia >24 hours.

• One or more post-concussive symptoms persisting for greater than 4 weeks that is inhibiting performance of one or more daily activities

• Age 18-60 years

Exclusion Criteria:

• Any additional severe neurologic or psychiatric conditions

• severe depressive symptoms per a score of >21 on the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9)

• inability to read, write, and speak English fluently

• lack of transportation to intervention sessions

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Brain Concussion
• Post-Concussion Syndrome
• Syndrome

Intervention

Behavioral:
• CO-OP Group
CO-OP focuses on learning of a global problem-solving strategy, Goal-Plan-Do-Check (GPDC), within the performance of participant-chosen goals. Use of a broadly applicable strategy and meaningful activity ensures the intervention is salient to the participant and increases likelihood of transfer. Uniquely, therapists applying CO-OP use guided discovery methods, such as asking a series of probing questions, to support participants in analyzing their own performance of a given task and generating potential solutions for improving performance. Participants become equipped with these skills through repetitive application of the GPDC process. First, participants identify a specific goal (Goal). Then, participants consider a detailed plan (Plan) for accomplishing the goal. By carrying out the plan (Do) and critically analyzing the results (Check), participants determine how the plan worked. The intervention focuses on learning GPDC with gradual withdrawal of guided discovery methods.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	University of Missouri-Columbia	Columbia	Missouri

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University of Missouri-Columbia

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

References & Publications (24)

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* Note: There are 24 references in all — Click here to view all references

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Client Satisfaction Questionnaire-8	Self-report, 8 item measures of intervention acceptability	post-intervention only (10 weeks post-baseline)
Primary	recruitment rate	number enrolled/numberscreened AND Total # enrolled	calculated at end of intervention (10 weeks post-baseline)
Primary	retention rate	number completing study procedures/number enrolled	calculated at end of intervention (10 weeks post-baseline)
Primary	adherence rate	number of sessions attended/Total number of sessions	calculated at end of intervention (10 weeks post-baseline)
Primary	assessment battery feasibility	Time for completion	calculated at end of intervention (10 weeks post-baseline)
Primary	assessment battery feasibility	Percentage of assessment items complete	calculated at end of intervention (10 weeks post-baseline)
Secondary	Canadian Occupation Performance Measure (COPM)	Self-report measures of perceived performance and satisfaction of occupational performance on a 1 to 10 Likert scale.	Change from baseline to post-intervention (10 weeks)
Secondary	Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory	Self-report measure on the severity and impact of common concussive symptoms using a 0 (none) to 4 (very severe) Likert scale.	Change from baseline to post-intervention (10 weeks)
Secondary	Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index	Self-report measure of quality and patterns of sleep using a four point Likert scale	Change from baseline to post-intervention (10 weeks)
Secondary	Henry Ford Hospital Headache Disability Inventory	Self-report questionnaire of functional impact of headache symptoms	Change from baseline to post-intervention (10 weeks)
Secondary	College of Optometrists in Vision Quality of Life Outcomes Assessment (COVD-QOL)	Self-report measure of functional impact of visual impairments using a five point Likert scale	Change from baseline to post-intervention (10 weeks)
Secondary	Dysexecutive Questionnaire	Self-report measure functional impact of dysexecutive symptoms using five point Likert scale.	Change from baseline to post-intervention (10 weeks)
Secondary	NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery	Neuropsychological, computer based tests of attention, executive functioning, episodic memory, working memory, language, and processing speed resulting in normative T-scores (mean=50; SD=10)	Change from baseline to post-intervention (10 weeks)
Secondary	Weekly Calendar Planning Assessment	Performance-based measure of executive functioning within a calendar planning activity using accuracy and time to completion scores. Alternate forms available.	Change from baseline to post-intervention (10 weeks)