Effect of Bilateral TENS With TOT on Upper Limb Function in Patients With Chronic Stroke

Not Applicable

Completed

Conditions: Stroke

Interventions: Behavioral: Task-orientated training
Device: Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS)
Device: Sham electrical nerve stimulation

Registration Number: NCT03112473

Lead Sponsor: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Brief Summary: On the basis that the combined use of Uni-TENS and TRT is an effective intervention in upper limb recovery, and the advantage of Bi-TENS eliciting extra neural pathway in the intact hemisphere to facilitate the motor recovery, There is a research gap in whether the Bi-TENS over both the paretic and non-paretic limbs could probably augment the treatment effects of TOT in upper limb motor control in people with stroke.

Detailed Description: The purpose of this study is to determine whether Bi-TENS+TOT was superior to Uni-TENS+TOT, Placebo-TENS+TOT alone and no active treatment in improving the upper limb motor control and upper limb function and community integration in people with chronic stroke.

The null hypothesis will be that Bi-TENS+TOT is not significantly different from Uni-TENS+TOT,Placebo-TENS+TOT alone and no active treatment in improving the upper limb motor control and upper limb function and community integration in people with chronic stroke.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: COMPLETED

Sex: All

Target Recruitment: 120

Inclusion Criteria

Subjects will be recruited from local self-help groups through poster advertising.
Subjects will be included if they are between 50 and 80 years of age
Have been diagnosed with ischaemic brain injury or intracerebral hemorrhage by MRI or computed tomography within the previous 1 to 10 years
have volitional control of the non-paretic arm and at least minimal antigravity movement in the shoulder of the paretic arm,
have at least 5º in wrist extension in the antigravity position,
score > 6 out of 10 in the Abbreviated Mental Test, and
are able to follow instructions and give informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria

• have any additional medical, cardiovascular or orthopedic condition
- use a cardiac pacemaker
- have receptive dysphasia
- have a significant upper limb peripheral neuropathy
- are involved in drug studies or other clinical trials, or
- have severe shoulder, elbow, wrist or finger contractures that would preclude a passive range of motions of the arm, and
- have a skin allergy that would prevent electrical stimulation.

Study & Design

Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL

Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Unilateral TENS (uni-TENS) group	Task-orientated training	All subjects will undergo 20 sessions of their assigned intervention (60 minutes, thrice a week, for 8 weeks). All subjects will receive 60 minutes task-oriented upper limb training (TOT) with unilateral electrical stimulation on paretic side and sham electrical stimulation on the non-paretic side
Unilateral TENS (uni-TENS) group	Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS)	All subjects will undergo 20 sessions of their assigned intervention (60 minutes, thrice a week, for 8 weeks). All subjects will receive 60 minutes task-oriented upper limb training (TOT) with unilateral electrical stimulation on paretic side and sham electrical stimulation on the non-paretic side
Unilateral TENS (uni-TENS) group	Sham electrical nerve stimulation	All subjects will undergo 20 sessions of their assigned intervention (60 minutes, thrice a week, for 8 weeks). All subjects will receive 60 minutes task-oriented upper limb training (TOT) with unilateral electrical stimulation on paretic side and sham electrical stimulation on the non-paretic side
Bilateral TENS (Bi-TENS) group	Task-orientated training	All subjects will undergo 20 sessions of their assigned intervention (60 minutes, thrice a week, for 8 weeks). All subjects will receive 60 minutes task-oriented upper limb training (TOT) with bilateral electrical stimulation
Placebo group	Sham electrical nerve stimulation	All subjects will undergo 20 sessions of their assigned intervention (60 minutes, thrice a week, for 8 weeks). All subjects will receive 60 minutes task-oriented upper limb training (TOT) with bilateral sham electrical stimulation
Placebo group	Task-orientated training	All subjects will undergo 20 sessions of their assigned intervention (60 minutes, thrice a week, for 8 weeks). All subjects will receive 60 minutes task-oriented upper limb training (TOT) with bilateral sham electrical stimulation
Bilateral TENS (Bi-TENS) group	Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS)	All subjects will undergo 20 sessions of their assigned intervention (60 minutes, thrice a week, for 8 weeks). All subjects will receive 60 minutes task-oriented upper limb training (TOT) with bilateral electrical stimulation

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Fugl Meyer Assessment on Upper Extremity (FMA-UE)	Pre-intervention, Mid-intervention (4 weeks), Post-intervention (8 weeks), Follow-up 1 month (12 weeks), Follow-up 3 months (20 weeks)	FMA-UE was used for evaluating the upper limb motor control from proximal to distal part of the limb, and voluntary movement from synergistic to isolated in people with stroke. The FMA-UE has shoulder-arm, wrist, hand and coordination and speed subsections. The score of shoulder-arm, wrist, hand and coordination and speed sub-scale are combined to compute the total score. The maximum total score is 66, with 33 items and ordinal scoring from 0 to 2. A higher score of FMA-UE indicated a higher level of upper limb motor control.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Maximal Voluntary Contraction (MVC)-Peak Torque	Pre-intervention, Mid-intervention (4 weeks), Post-intervention (8 weeks), Follow-up 1 month (12 weeks), Follow-up 3 months (20 weeks)	The force data would be recorded by the self-made load cell. And the mean value peak torque of the joint would be calculated by the force and the length from the wrist joint to the head of 3rd metacarpal.
Action Research Arm Test (ARAT)	Pre-intervention, Mid-intervention (4 weeks), Post-intervention (8 weeks), Follow-up 1 month (12 weeks), Follow-up 3 months (20 weeks)	ARAT will be used to assess the 4 aspects of upper limb function(grasp, grip, pinch and gross arm movement). This scale is consistent of 19 items. The quality of performance on each item is rated from 0-3, so the score of ARAT is ranged from 0-57. The score of rasp, grip, pinch and gross arm movement sub-scale are combined to compute the total score. The scores for the 15 tasks will be summed and then averaged to yield the mean functional ability score. A higher ARAT score indicated a higher upper limb motor function.
Motor Activity Log (MAL)	Pre-intervention, Mid-intervention (4 weeks), Post-intervention (8 weeks), Follow-up 1 month (12 weeks), Follow-up 3 months (20 weeks)	The MAL questionnaire will be used to assess how frequently and how well a person uses the paretic upper limb in 30 activities of daily life in a semi-structured interview. Based on a six-point ordinal scale, subjects will be required to rate (1) the amount of use (AOU), and (2) the quality of movement (QOM) when performing these 30 tasks in real life situations. Each task was rated from 0 to 5. The score of the 30 activities of daily life were combined to compute the total score of MAL-AOU and MAL-QOM, respectively. Hence, the total score of AOU and QOM component were rated from 0 to 150. The higher MAL-AOU score indicated a higher frequency use of the paretic upper limb, and the higher MAL-QOM score indicated a higher movement quality of the paretic upper limb.
Chinese Version of Community Integration Measure (CIM)	Pre-intervention, Mid-intervention (4 weeks), Post-intervention (8 weeks), Follow-up 1 month (12 weeks), Follow-up 3 months (20 weeks)	The Chinese version of CIM was used to assess the level of community integration of the subjects. The CIM-C has been shown to have good internal consistency and good test-retest reliability for people with stroke . CIM has 10 items, each item rate from 1-5, giving a minimum score of 10 to a maximum of 50. A higher score indicated a higher level of community integration.
Jacket Test (JT)	Pre-intervention, Mid-intervention (4 weeks), Post-intervention (8 weeks), Follow-up 1 month (12 weeks), Follow-up 3 months (20 weeks)	Jacket Test is one of the items in the Physical Performance Test. The subject is required to don a jacket or a cardigan sweater such that it is straight on his or her shoulders, and then remove it completely. The time for completing the task is recorded.(Rueben DB et al, 1990) This Jacket Test (JT) can be used to evaluate the functional mobility of the upper limbs as the test involves abduction of the shoulder joint, flexion and extension of the elbow joint and gripping with the hands.
The Range of Motion (ROM) of Upper Limb Joints	Pre-intervention, Mid-intervention (4 weeks), Post-intervention (8 weeks), Follow-up 1 month (12 weeks), Follow-up 3 months (20 weeks)	With 0° shoulder flexion and 90° elbow flexion, the forearm and wrist will be placed in a neutral position in the relaxed phase. When the task begins, the subjects will be asked to perform the full range of motion for wrist flexion/extension. With 90° shoulder flexion and 0° elbow flexion, the forearm will be placed in a neutral position in the relaxed phase. When the task begins, the subjects will be asked to perform the full range of motion for elbow flexion/extension. All the subjects will be requested to perform their joint ROM to the best of their abilities.
Maximal Voluntary Contraction (MVC)-Cocontraction Ratio	Pre-intervention, Mid-intervention (4 weeks), Post-intervention (8 weeks), Follow-up 1 month (12 weeks), Follow-up 3 months (20 weeks)	EMG signal of Radial Carpi Extensor and Ulnar Carpi Flexor for both affected and unaffected side would be recorded by the surface EMG electrodes when asked the subjects to perform the MVC of wrist extension and flexion for 5s in each trial. Each movement would perform 3 times. The data of the 3 trials will be averaged. The co-contraction ratio would be calculated by the iEMG area of antagonist to total (agonist+antagonist), which would be captured for 0.5s from the window began at 0.25s before and ended at 0.25s after the peak value of MVC.