Recruiting

Mental Practice

Sponsor:

Adventist HealthCare

Code:

NCT05519306

Conditions

Stroke

Upper Extremity Paresis

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 70+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Mental Practice

Study Details

Brief summary:

This study aims to examine the acceptability of patients and occupational therapists in following a mental practice protocol and examine the effects of mental practice with individuals with severe upper extremity hemiparesis (weakness) following a stroke. Mental practice is an adjunctive rehabilitation therapy that involves thinking about a motor task without actually moving. Research has shown that mental practice is a safe and feasible intervention that is effective in improving arm movements after a stroke.

Patients in the study will participate in audio-guided mental practice, five days a week for two weeks, completing the following tasks: wiping a table and picking up a cup. The patients' ability to move their affected arm will be measured before and after the study to determine the effect of mental practice. Patients and occupational therapists will complete a survey to determine their feelings about performing or facilitating mental practice.

The authors hypothesize that the majority of patients and occupational therapists will find mental practice to be feasible/acceptable for the recovery of the affected arm. Furthermore, we anticipate the majority of patients that complete the mental practice protocol will demonstrate improvements in their arm movements.

Conditions

Stroke

Upper Extremity Paresis

Study ID

NCT05519306

Start date

Aug 22, 2022

Status verified date

Sep, 2022

Completion date

Dec, 2022

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Nov, 2022

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 70+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • age 18-90
  • less than one-month post-stroke
  • hemiparesis of one UE
  • severe UE impairment as defined by a score of < 20 on the UE portion of the Fugl-Meyer Upper Extremity Assessment

Exclusion Criteria:

  • history of prior stroke
  • comorbidities (severe neurological, orthopedic, rheumatoid, or cardiac impairments), (3) severe spasticity
  • severe cognitive impairments, score (< 22 on Mini-Mental State Examination)
  • inability to perform mental imagery score, < 25 on Mental Imagery Questionnaire-Revised Second Version
  • severe aphasia based on speech therapist evaluation
  • non-English speaking
  • severe pain >5 on the 10-point visual analog scale

Study Design

Enrollment

43 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Non randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Mental Practice Patients

Patients with upper extremity hemiparesis following a stroke.

no intervention: Occupational Therapists

Licensed, full-time, or part-time occupational therapists currently working in the inpatient rehabilitation unit of Adventist Healthcare Rehabilitation

Interventions

Mental Practice

Each patient will perform the following two activity-based tasks via MP: wiping a table and picking up a cup. Prior to a scheduled OT session patients will perform MP of the assigned motor task. Following MP, a research therapist will facilitate repetitive task practice of the same motor task. MP sessions will be completed 5x/week for 2 weeks, (3x/week in combination with RTP, and 2x/week independently). The MP will be completed at an MP station equipped with a tablet and noise-canceling headphones. The audio recording will be from a first-person view as if they are performing it with their own UE. Each task will consist of 20 repetitions and will be facilitated by the use of multisensory cues (visual, tactile, auditory, and kinesthetic). For example, the task of picking up a cup will include describing how the drink looks (water with ice) and the temperature and feel of the cup (cold/moist).

Primary outcome measure

  • Fugl-Meyer Assessment-Upper Extremity portion- Change in scores from pre to post intervention [ Time Frame: Within 3 days of admission and within 3 days following completion of the two weeks of mental practice protocol. ]
  • Wolf Motor Function Test -Change in scores from pre to post intervention [ Time Frame: Within 3 days of admission and within 3 days following completion of the two weeks of the mental practice protocol. ]
  • Acceptability of Intervention Measure- Survey to assess the perception of the intervention. [ Time Frame: Within 3 days following completion of the mental practice protocol. ]
  • Intervention of Appropriateness Measure- Survey to assess the perception of fit of the intervention. [ Time Frame: Within 3 days following completion of the mental practice protocol. ]
  • Feasibility of Intervention Measure - Survey of the perception of feasibility for the intervention [ Time Frame: Within 3 days following completion of the mental practice protocol. ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Teresa M Green, MSOT

240-864-6196tgreen3@adventisthealthcare.com

Locations

Adventist Healthcare Rehabilitation

Recruiting

Rockville, Maryland, United States, 20906

Contacts

Teresa M Green, MSOT

240-864-6196tgreen3@adventisthealthcare.com

More Information

Sponsor

Adventist HealthCare

Last update posted

Sep 7, 2022

Last verified

Sep, 2022

Keywords

  • mental practice
  • stroke
  • upper extremity
  • hemiparesis
  • rehabilitation interventions

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Adventist HealthCare on 2022-09-07.