Can play-based therapy improve hand function in hemiplegia?

Not Applicable

Completed

Conditions: Hemiplegic cerebral palsy
Nervous System Diseases
Cerebral palsy

Registration Number: ISRCTN65947097

Lead Sponsor: The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UK)

Brief Summary: Not available

Detailed Description: Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: Completed

Sex: All

Target Recruitment: 58

Inclusion Criteria

Male and female children aged 3 - 10 years with hemiplegic cerebral palsy predominantly affecting arm and hand function.

Exclusion Criteria

1. Registered visually impaired
2. Inability or unwillingness to understand or attempt the tasks
3. No active grasp in the affected hand
4. Children who have had another intervention such as upper limb Botulinum toxin therapy or surgical intervention in the preceding 3 months and those who are planned to have such an intervention within the next 6 months and are unable to defer this until after the study

Study & Design

Study Type: Interventional

Study Design: Not specified

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Hand function measured using the Assisting Hand Assessment (AHA) score, at baseline, 3 months and 6 months. This is a 22 item Rasch-based test designed for children ages 18m-12 years with unilateral upper limb disability such as hemiplegia and assesses performance of the hemiplegic hand during bimanual activities within a semi-structured video recorded play session lasting 10-15 minutes. All 22 items are scored from 0 (does not do) to 4 (effective use).

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Hand function measured at baseline, 3 and 6 months using:<br>1. Melbourne assessment of unilateral upper limb function. This is a capacity-based test for children with cerebral palsy, measuring many aspects of unimanual reaching, grasping and manipulation. The assessment is video recorded and takes around 15 minutes, with the score expressed as a percentage.<br>2. ABILHAND-Kids questionnaire. The 21 items reflect both unimanual and bimanual performance during daily activities. Completion is undertaken by the parents and takes around 10 minutes.<br>3. An adapted 9-hole pegboard test of manual dexterity<br>4. A brief test of movement planning, based on handle rotation, adapted from Mutsaarts et al. (2006)