Clinical Trial Details
— Status: Completed
Administrative data
| NCT number |
NCT04856527 |
| Other study ID # |
2020-1072 |
| Secondary ID |
|
| Status |
Completed |
| Phase |
N/A
|
| First received |
|
| Last updated |
|
| Start date |
June 2, 2021 |
| Est. completion date |
October 12, 2021 |
Study information
| Verified date |
April 2022 |
| Source |
University of Cincinnati |
| Contact |
n/a |
| Is FDA regulated |
No |
| Health authority |
|
| Study type |
Interventional
|
Clinical Trial Summary
The purpose of this study is to systematically determine the effect of unnecessary physical
therapist assistance in individuals after stroke during the practice of an upper limb task on
an individual's task performance and their underlying motor control patterns when learning
(or re-learning) motor skills.
Description:
Independent motor task performance is the most highly prioritized outcome of physical therapy
for individuals with motor disability. Accordingly, a key priority for physical therapists in
multiple practice settings is the advancement of functional motor independence. Therapists
must determine when a patient requires assistance (e.g., verbal cues, physical support) to
complete a motor task and when a patient is able to execute a motor skill with less
assistance. If a therapist does not provide enough support, the patient is at risk for
unsuccessful task performance. As such, therapists often default to providing a higher level
of assistance.
An individual following stroke, for instance, may demonstrate an increased magnitude of
postural sway while completing self-care activities at the sink. A therapist may decide to
provide physical support for the patient to decrease sway variability, whether or not the
patient requires this support to maintain performance. The motor control consequences of
providing this assistance (thus constraining movement variability and providing fewer options
for adapting movement) when assistance is actually not needed is unknown. The purpose of this
study is to systematically determine the effect of unnecessary assistance during the practice
of an upper limb task on functional performance and underlying motor control patterns when
learning (or re-learning) motor skills in individuals with stroke. The insights gained from
the current project will have the potential to improve the currently available physical
therapy interventions for individuals with stroke.
The effects of unnecessary physical therapist support will be examined in terms of upper limb
task performance, retention, and transfer, and in terms of the postural control supporting
task performance. The study is currently planned for individuals with stroke. Participants
will be required to maintain the position of a virtual laser within a target while standing.
An experimental group will receive postural support (physical assistance to maintain upright
posture) during a practice period in order to specifically determine the effect of postural
support on upper limb task performance and postural sway patterns. Participants will also
engage in a light finger force production transfer task to ascertain the influence of
postural support on a different supra-postural task.
It is hypothesized that providing unnecessary assistance (and thus limiting independence)
during practice of a novel motor task will result in (a) faster improvements in task
performance but reduced retention and more limited transfer to another, similar task; and (b)
reduced task- sensitive postural sway adjustments (measured in terms of both the quantity and
temporal structure) during practice, at transfer, and at retention, reflecting reduced
adaptability of postural patterns to task demands.
