Effect of Community Choir Singing in People With Chronic Post-stroke Aphasia

NCT ID: NCT06368323

Last Updated: 2024-04-22

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

50 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2024-04-22

Study Completion Date

2025-12-31

Brief Summary

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The goal of this randomized controled trial is to test the effects of assigning people with chronic post-stroke aphasia to 12 weekly choir sessions, compared to usual care.

The main question it aims to answer is:

Does the assignment to a choir singing program causes a beneficial effect on functional communication and language recovery as well as psychosocial outcomes compared to usual care in the rehabilitation of people with chronic post-stroke aphasia?

Participants will have:

12 in-person choir-singing sessions (1 session/week, 1,5 h/session, total 18h) conducted by a choir master, and home singing training (3 x 30-minutes-sessions/week, total 18h)

Detailed Description

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Description of study population Additional information: Participants with chronic aphasia due to stroke will be recruited from four participating centers in Canada and the United States.

Study design Additional information: A parallel group randomized trial design with a secondary crossover extension was chosen for this study to offer the intervention to all participants. Participants will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio to two study arms (AB/BA, A = 12 weekly choir sessions and home singing training, B = usual care) stratified for aphasia severity (according to the Quick Aphasia Battery overall score), age, time since last stroke and their interest in music (according to the Barcelona Music Reward Questionnaire). Measures at the "macro" level will be collected at Baseline, Completion and 2-months Follow-up time points for each group. At the "micro" level (i.e., at choir sessions 2, 6, 10 and 12) data will be collected during as well as pre and post choir-singing.

Intervention Additional information: The repertoire in the comunity choir activity will consist of popular songs in English or French. Half of the songs will be pre-determined and half will be chosen by the choir members from a list, based on a vote during the first week of the intervention. Eligible songs will remain within the range of an octave and include a variety of tempi (but fast tempi will be slowed down if needed to facilitate word production). Depending on the group's abilities, the Choir Director will decide in which keys the songs will be performed, and whether they will be sung in unison or with simple harmonies. Songs in canon will be included in the predetermined repertoire to easily create harmonies. Each session will include (in this order): 15 minutes for vocal warm-up; 25 minutes of work on the song repertoire; 20 minutes for a social break with refreshments.

For the home training, participants will be instructed to sing at home with a video guide on an online platform. Each home training session will include (in this order): 10 minutes for vocal warm-up; and 20 minutes sing-along using songs of the repertoire. Song lyrics will be displayed on the video.

To monitor the usual care, each participant (and/or caregiver) will complete a form and/or have a weekly 5-15-minute phone/Zoom call with a research assistant to collect the usual care data including type and time spent in social activities and rehabilitation services, as well as adverse events.

Randomization and concealment For randomization, an online system will be used by a researcher not involved in data collection.

Each participant will be assigned an identification number upon inclusion in the study. After completion of the baseline assessments, the independent researcher will receive the list of participants' IDs with their stratification data (age, time post-stoke, aphasia severity, level of interest in music) to perform the randomization.

Blinding:

Outcomes will be measured by blinded assessors where possible, based on video or audio recordings.

Planned analyses:

Primary hypothesis:

Participants assigned to the choir intervention over 12 weeks will demonstrate a significantly larger improvement in macro-level measures compared to those receiving usual care.

Secondary hypothesis:

Participants who completed the choir intervention with 80% adherence over 12 weeks will demonstrate a larger improvement in macro-level measures compared to those receiving usual care.

The gains will be maintained for the participants with 80% adherence.

There will be immediate changes in micro-level measures after a choir session (Session 6).

There will be differences in pre-post-session variations of micro-level measures between Session 2, 6 and 10.

There will be differences in pre-post-session variations between the usual rehearsal (Session 10) and the Concert (Session 12).

Conditions

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Aphasia

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

A parallel group randomized trial design with a secondary crossover extension
Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Outcome Assessors
Outcomes will be measured by blinded assessors where possible, using blinded video or audio recordings.

Study Groups

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AB Group

First choir, then usual care

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Choir singing

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

The 12-week intervention will consist of 12 in-person choir-singing sessions (1 session/week, 1,5 h/session, total 18h) conducted by a choir master in addition to home training (3 x 30-minutes-sessions/week, total 18h). In total, participants will undergo the intervention for 3 hours/week for 12 weeks (i.e., 36 hours).

Usual care

Intervention Type OTHER

Rehabilitation services received by patients and social activities will be monitored and documented.

BA Group

First usual care, then choir

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Choir singing

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

The 12-week intervention will consist of 12 in-person choir-singing sessions (1 session/week, 1,5 h/session, total 18h) conducted by a choir master in addition to home training (3 x 30-minutes-sessions/week, total 18h). In total, participants will undergo the intervention for 3 hours/week for 12 weeks (i.e., 36 hours).

Usual care

Intervention Type OTHER

Rehabilitation services received by patients and social activities will be monitored and documented.

Interventions

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Choir singing

The 12-week intervention will consist of 12 in-person choir-singing sessions (1 session/week, 1,5 h/session, total 18h) conducted by a choir master in addition to home training (3 x 30-minutes-sessions/week, total 18h). In total, participants will undergo the intervention for 3 hours/week for 12 weeks (i.e., 36 hours).

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Usual care

Rehabilitation services received by patients and social activities will be monitored and documented.

Intervention Type OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* People with chronic aphasia following stroke
* English or French as language of daily use
* Last stroke must have occurred at least 6 months before the start of the first assessments in the study protocol.

Exclusion Criteria

* Regular music making in the past 6 months
* Visual deficit that cannot be corrected and might impair testing
* Hearing deficit that cannot be corrected and might impair testing
* Presence of neurological/psychiatric co-morbidity or substance abuse
* No ability to produce vocal sound through singing/humming
* Legally considered unable to make decisions for oneself
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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Toronto Metropolitan University

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Université de Montréal

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

University of South Florida

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

University of Ottawa

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Anna Zumbansen

Professor

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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Anna Zumbansen, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Ottawa

Arla Good, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Toronto Metropolitan University

Frank Russo, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Toronto Metropolitan University

Carole Anglade, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Université de Montréal

Édith Durand, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières

Jennifer Bugos, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of South Florida

Locations

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University of South Florida

Tampa, Florida, United States

Site Status NOT_YET_RECRUITING

University of Ottawa

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Site Status RECRUITING

Toronto Metropolitan University

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Site Status NOT_YET_RECRUITING

Université de Montréal

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Site Status NOT_YET_RECRUITING

Countries

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United States Canada

Central Contacts

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Anna Zumbansen, PhD

Role: CONTACT

613-562-5800 ext. 8393

Narges Bayat, Master

Role: CONTACT

613-562-5800 ext. 8393

Facility Contacts

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Jennifer Bugos, Ph.D.

Role: primary

Anna Zumbansen, PhD

Role: primary

613-562-5800 ext. 8393

Narges Bayat, Master

Role: backup

613-562-5800 ext. 8393

Arla Good, Ph.D.

Role: primary

Carole Anglade, Ph.D.

Role: primary

References

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Siponkoski ST, Pitkaniemi A, Laitinen S, Sarkamo ER, Pentikainen E, Eloranta H, Tuomiranta L, Melkas S, Schlaug G, Sihvonen AJ, Sarkamo T. Efficacy of a multicomponent singing intervention on communication and psychosocial functioning in chronic aphasia: a randomized controlled crossover trial. Brain Commun. 2022 Dec 27;5(1):fcac337. doi: 10.1093/braincomms/fcac337. eCollection 2023.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 36687394 (View on PubMed)

Anna Zumbansen, Isabelle Peretz, Carole Anglade, Josée Bilodeau, Suzanne Généreux, Michelyne Hubert & Sylvie Hébert (2017) Effect of choir activity in the rehabilitation of aphasia: a blind, randomised, controlled pilot study, Aphasiology, 31:8, 879-900, DOI: 10.1080/02687038.2016.1227424

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Provided Documents

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Document Type: Informed Consent Form

View Document

Related Links

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https://www.singwell.ca/

The SingWell Project

Other Identifiers

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H-01-24-9931

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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