Examining the Effect of Piano Playing Training on Fine Motor Skills in Parkinson's Patients

Parkinson Disease Clinical Trial

Official title:

Examining the Effect of Piano Playing Training on Fine Motor Skills in Parkinson's Patients

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Suspended

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT06120192
• Other study ID #: 8407-21-SMC
• Status: Suspended
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: August 22, 2022
• Est. completion date: December 31, 2024

Study information

• Verified date: November 2023
• Source: Tel Aviv University
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

Piano playing may provide an engaging and accessible setting for finger and wrist movement training. Moreover, it has been found effective for improving manual dexterity and upper-limb function in other neurologic disorders, such as stroke and additionally beneficial for cognitive and psychosocial support in Parkinson's disease. However, no study has examined the effect of piano playing on dexterity in Parkinson's disease. The aim of this study is to test the efficacy of a novel piano-based training program on fine motor function in patients with PD. Participants with Parkinson's disease will take part in an individually tailored 6-week piano training program, combining weekly supervised training sessions (6x60 min altogether), with three independent at-home weekly 30 minutes practice sessions (18x30 altogether). Participants will receive a piano MIDI keyboard for home use during the study.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Suspended
• Enrollment: 3
• Est. completion date: December 31, 2024
• Est. primary completion date: December 31, 2024
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 40 Years to 75 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Idiopathic Parkinson's Disease patients
• Hoehn and Yahr stages I to III
• Self-reports of some dexterity difficulties

Exclusion Criteria:

• Participation in an ongoing clinical study or clinical study within 30 days prior to this study
• Atypical parkinsonian syndrome or secondary parkinsonism (e.g., due to drugs, metabolic neurogenetic disorders, encephalitis, cerebrovascular disease, or other degenerative disease), or other neurologic conditions influencing upper limb movement
• Significant psychiatric symptoms or history
• Significant or recent experience in piano playing (participants who are proficient piano players, or had studied piano for more than 3 years in the past, or for shorter periods in the last 5 years)
• Other significant fine motor skills (e.g., high proficiency in playing another musical instrument, video games, etc.)
• Mini Mental status examination (MMSE) score below 25
• Significant sensory deficits, e.g., hearing or sight impairment
• Unstable medical disorder
• Significant postural or action tremor, moderate dyskinesia

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Parkinson Disease

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Piano
Receives the piano training

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Israel	Tel Aviv University	Tel Aviv

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Tel Aviv University	Sheba Medical Center

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Israel, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Box and block test	Number of blocks that can be moved over a barrier using the hand / arm in one minute	First meeting, last meeting (after 6 weeks)
Primary	9 Hole peg test	Time taken to insert 9 pegs into holes and then remove them	First meeting, last meeting (after 6 weeks)
Primary	Synergy index	Calculated from a force ramp production task using the fingers with force sensors	First meeting, last meeting (after 6 weeks)
Primary	Movement Disorder Society - Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) motor parts II (patient questionnaire) - parts 2.4 to 2.7 and III (motor examination) - parts 3.3 and 3.4	Standard questionnaire used in Parkinson's disease. Higher scores indicate more impairment. Maximum score for each part is 4, so overall for the 6 parts the maximum score is 24.	First meeting, last meeting (after 6 weeks)
Secondary	Quantitative Digitography - Average strike duration	Measure of speed and variability of key presses on a piano - mean of the time the key is pressed	First meeting, last meeting (after 6 weeks)
Secondary	Quantitative Digitography - Coefficient of variation strike duration	Measure of speed and variability of key presses on a piano - coefficient of variation of the time the key is pressed	First meeting, last meeting (after 6 weeks)
Secondary	Quantitative Digitography - Average interval between strikes (in seconds)	Measure of speed and variability of key presses on a piano - average time between subsequent key presses	First meeting, last meeting (after 6 weeks)
Secondary	Quantitative Digitography - Coefficient of variation of interval between strikes	Measure of speed and variability of key presses on a piano - coefficient of variation of the time between subsequent key presses	First meeting, last meeting (after 6 weeks)
Secondary	Quantitative assessment of piano performance progress	Measurement of improvement in playing the piano - the teacher (rater) will give a score (between 0 and 5) for the level of piano playing of the participant, where 0 is no ability to play and 5 is the ability to play the pieces from the workbook (a beginner's level piano book) perfectly.	First meeting, last meeting (after 6 weeks)