NCT04747587

Non-use After Stroke: Influence of Applied Force and Precision When Reaching With the Paretic Upper Limb

Non-use après Accident Vasculaire cérébral : Influence de la Force et de la précision du Geste à Fournir Lors Des Mouvements du Membre supérieur parétique

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 53 (actual)
• Sponsor: Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nīmes · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

After a stroke, 80% of patients have an upper limb deficit, limiting activity. Some develop a non-use: they can, but do not, use their paretic limb. Non-use is a general phenomenon applied to all situations where the patient applies unnecessary compensation. Several rehabilitation techniques are effective to counter non-use, but there is insufficient knowledge to choose the most suitable technique. Optimal control theory could help guide these choices. It assumes that the chosen coordination satisfies the constraints of the task (force, amplitude, tolerance) while reducing the cost of the movement. This study will assess non-use by anticipating the sensitivity to the constraints of force and precision deduced from the logic of optimal control. The study authors expect to observe a weakness effect: in a reaching task (i.e. when the person has to touch an object placed in front of them), lightening the paretic arm makes it possible to reduce non-use, and a precision effect: in a reaching task, non-use increases with the required spatial precision.

Conditions

• Stroke

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Reaching Session	Two x 45 minutes sessions of reaching tasks. Patients in the stroke group will perform the task with the paretic arm using a weight reduction system, allowing movement in the horizontal plane. Subjects in the control group will perform the task with the randomly selected arm weighted at 80% of their maximum voluntary shoulder torque

Timeline

• Start date: 2021-05-11
• Primary completion: 2023-04-25
• Completion: 2023-04-25
• First posted: 2021-02-10
• Last updated: 2025-12-18

Locations

2 sites across 1 country: France