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Completed Not applicable Interventional

The Effect of Resistance to Participant-Supported Reaching on Workspace of the Hand in Severe Chronic Stroke

ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT01548781

Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT01548781. Field values are reproduced from the official study page; the official ClinicalTrials.gov record remains the source of truth for eligibility, enrollment, and contact information.

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Data is sourced from official ClinicalTrials.gov public API records. Always review the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for the latest information.

Brief summary

Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.

Disturbances in movement coordination are the least well understood but often the most debilitating with respect to functional recovery following stroke. These deficits in coordination are expressed in the form of abnormal muscle synergies and result in limited and stereotypic movement patterns that are functionally disabling. The result of these constraints in muscle synergies is an abnormal coupling between shoulder abduction and elbow flexion (i.e. the flexion synergy), which significantly reduces the reaching function of an individual with stroke when they lift up the weight of the impaired arm against gravity. The investigators previous neurotherapeutic research, supported by a NIDRR Field Initiated research grant, has shown that the abnormal synergy between shoulder abduction and elbow flexion can be significantly reduced thus increasing total reaching range of motion in individuals with severe stroke. The previous work established progressive abduction loading as a key element to the rehabilitation of reaching. Although individuals with severe stroke benefited from the investigators previous work, residual flexion synergy continued to hinder normal arm function in most participants with severe stroke. This study will utilize the ACT3D robot, developed as part of the investigators previous NIDRR project, to incorporate resistance to reaching while accounting for the known benefits of progressive abduction loading. The investigators propose to randomize forty participants with severe stroke into two closely related interventions. The groups will both practice reaching under abduction loading, however, the experimental group will also move against resistance while reaching. Rigorous and quantitative investigation of therapeutic elements such as resistance to reaching and progressive abduction loading is only possible with a device such as the ACT3D. the investigators will be able to standardize the delivery of each intervention using kinematic and kinetic parameters, which will allow for a clear identification of the therapeutic effect of resistance to reaching. the investigators hypothesize that resistance to reaching in combination with progressive abduction loading will further increase dynamic multi-joint strength, increase total reaching range of motion, and increase arm function thus enhancing actual amount of use of the arm, participation in life roles, and quality of life in individuals with severe stroke.

Study identification

NCT ID
NCT01548781
Recruitment status
Completed
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Not applicable
Lead sponsor
Northwestern University
Other
Enrollment
38 participants

Conditions and interventions

Conditions

Eligibility (public fields only)

Age range
21 Years to 85 Years
Sex
All
Healthy volunteers
Healthy volunteers not accepted

This page does not interpret eligibility. Detailed inclusion and exclusion criteria are on the official ClinicalTrials.gov record.

Study timeline

Start date
Feb 29, 2012
Primary completion
Jun 30, 2015
Completion
Jun 30, 2015
Last update posted
Oct 5, 2015

2012 – 2015

United States locations

U.S. sites
1
U.S. states
1
U.S. cities
1
Facility City State ZIP Site status
Department of Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences Chicago Illinois 60611

Site contact phone numbers, emails, and investigator names are intentionally not displayed here. Open the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for site contact information.

About this trial record page

What this page shows
Public field values for ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT01548781, including study identification, conditions, interventions, eligibility (age, sex, healthy volunteer), timeline, and U.S. site list.
What this page does not do
No medical advice, eligibility judgments, treatment recommendations, study quality scoring, or AI-generated medical summaries. No site contact phone numbers, emails, or investigator names.
Where the data comes from
Sourced from the official ClinicalTrials.gov public API. The official record is the source of truth.
Last refresh
Last update posted Oct 5, 2015 · Synced Sep 6, 2026

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