NCT03728036

What do Stroke Survivors Actually Learn When Regaining Walking Ability After Stroke? The TARGET Phase I Study

A Temporal Analysis of the Robustness of Hemiplegic Gait and Standing Balance Early After sTroke - the TARGET Research Project

• Status: Completed
• Phase: —
• Study type: Observational
• Enrollment: 66 (actual)
• Sponsor: Universiteit Antwerpen · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 90 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Phase I: Exploring what stroke survivors exactly learn when recovering the ability to stand and walk.

Detailed description

GENERAL: Pre-clinical research has pointed towards a time window of enhanced responsiveness to therapy early after stroke. For example, training has led to substantial recovery if initiated 5 or 14, but not 30 days post-stroke in a rodent model (Biernaski 2004). It is suggested that this early period is characterized by heightened levels of plasticity and that training can exploit this leading to improved outcome. The typically observed non-linear recovery pattern in stroke survivors (Kwakkel 2004) might suggest that similar mechanisms are induced in the human brain, however clinical research on this is disappointingly sparse. In two closely inter-related phases, we aim to examine the biomechanical changes related to walking recovery in general (Phase I) and the specific effects of robot-assisted training (Phase II). By that, we aim to detect a time window in stroke survivors which resembles the same characteristics as observed in animal models. To initiate gait training at an early stage, when patients usually present severe weakness and balance deficits, a mobile exoskeleton is used which is developed to provide intensive walking practice. OBJECTIVES: (I.a) Is there a distinct time window of behavioral restitution (i.e., returning towards pre-stroke movement patterns) underlying early walking recovery? (I.b) Are improvements in standing and walking throughout the first 6 months post-stroke explained by behavioral restitution or learning to use compensation strategies?

Conditions

• Stroke
• Paresis
• Gait, Hemiplegic

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	conventional rehabilitation	The investigated cohort will be exposed to 'standard care' including conventional rehabilitation therapy.

Timeline

• Start date: 2018-11-01
• Primary completion: 2022-02-07
• Completion: 2022-02-07
• First posted: 2018-11-01
• Last updated: 2022-09-23

Locations

3 sites across 1 country: Belgium