A Novel Program Using Ride-on Toys to Improve Upper Extremity Function in Children With Hemiplegia
NCT ID: NCT06579027
Last Updated: 2025-06-05
Study Results
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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RECRUITING
NA
30 participants
INTERVENTIONAL
2024-09-26
2026-09-01
Brief Summary
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The investigators will also compare the effects of these 2 types of training programs on children's arm motor function and spontaneous use of their affected arm during daily activities.
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Detailed Description
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Assessments and questionnaires will be repeated again at the posttest (i.e., at week 8 that corresponds with completion of the 6-week intervention phase) and at 1-month follow-up following intervention completion (i.e., week 12).
Following the pretest, the child will be randomized into one of the training groups (SPEED or CRAFT). During the 6-week intervention phase, the research team will visit the child's home/community 2 times/week to provide the training. Caregivers will be requested to practice 2 additional sessions every week with their child in both groups.
Children in the Strength and Power in upper Extremities through Exploratory Driving (SPEED) training group will engage in multidirectional navigation games and object-based upper extremity quests using the ride-on toys. The toy will be modified to enable operation in a single joystick control mode with the joystick control provided on the child's affected side. The training activities will be designed to encourage children to use their affected arm for training activities. The training will involve children driving through incrementally challenging courses/paths and completing object-based tasks that require use of their affected arm for reaching, grasping, release, and fine manipulation activities. Children will be asked to wear a mitten on their unaffected hand during the sessions. Children in the Creative Rehabilitation for Arm Functional Training (CRAFT) group will engage in seated creative motor games that will encourage use of their affected arm. Training activities will involve stretching and strengthening exercises, building activities (e.g., using Play-doh, blocks, etc.), and art-craft projects, all of which will require the skillful use of the affected arm for reach, grasp, release, and manipulation activities.
Research-delivered sessions in both groups will last around 30-45 minutes. Caregivers will be encouraged to provide 2 more sessions every week lasting about 15-20 minutes/session. The research team will provide caregivers in both groups with the required materials for caregiver sessions. In the SPEED group, the ride-on toy will be left with the family for the duration of the intervention (i.e., 6 weeks). Both researchers and caregivers will be asked to keep track of training sessions (duration, frequency, etc.) using a training log. During the course of the study, children in both groups will continue to receive treatment-as-usual through school or private settings. Families will be asked to log the therapies their child is receiving every week over the course of the study using a training diary (# of times/week, duration of each session, type of therapy received) provided by the researchers. Researchers will video record all testing and researcher-delivered training sessions so that children's performance can be scored later.
Conditions
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Study Design
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RANDOMIZED
PARALLEL
TREATMENT
SINGLE
Study Groups
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SPEED (Strength and Power in upper Extremities through Exploratory Driving)
Children will receive training focused on improving affected arm function using modified, joystick-operated ride-on toys. The commercial ride-on toys will be modified to allow operation in a single joystick control mode provided on the child's affected side. The manualized SPEED sessions will involve 2 components: (a) Multidirectional navigational games where children will use their affected UE to drive and maneuver the toy and (b) Object-based UE tasks completed at intermediate stops/stations during navigation. Navigational opportunities will encourage children to navigate through paths of different shapes, sizes, and complexity levels (e.g., straight, circle, diamond, slalom, obstacle courses etc.) Object-based tasks will encourage functional UE movement patterns during object interactions such as reaching, throwing, catching, pulling, pushing, lifting, knocking, holding, grasping, opening, closing, release, and manipulation.
SPEED Training
Children will use ride-on toys controlled using their affected arm to navigate through their environment and complete playful theme-based challenges. Children will use their affected UE during navigation to start and stop the toy, move steadily forward and backward, turn to the right and left, perform 180° and 360° turns to either side, and avoid obstacles. Children will complete object-based UE tasks requiring gross and fine motor control at intermediate stops during navigation. Navigational tasks will be progressed by increasing complexity of paths (straight to slalom paths needing more directional changes), spaces (wide to narrow spaces), and precision (obstacle courses and mazes requiring skillful navigation, motor planning, and route finding). Object-based tasks will be progressed in terms of force requirements (small to large forces), range of motion (near to far reaches), precision (manipulation of large to small objects), and speed of movements (slow to fast).
CRAFT (Creative Rehabilitation for Arm Functional Training)
Children will engage in seated creative motor games focused on promoting gross and fine motor UE function. Training sessions will encourage use of the affected UE during unimanual and bimanual activities. Each training session will involve the following components: (a) Stretching exercises and (b) Task-oriented strengthening activities. Stretching exercises will involve range of motion exercises to encourage active warmup of proximal (shoulder, elbow) and distal (wrist, hand) UE muscles and movement dissociation. Task-oriented strengthening will involve use of the affected UE as a mobilizer and a stabilizer during building (e.g., Play-Doh, blocks, puzzles) and art-craft activities (e.g., folding, cutting, pasting, coloring). Task-oriented practice will emphasize skills such as reaching, grasping, release, and manipulation of training supplies.
CRAFT Training
Children will engage in predominantly seated activities based on conventional occupational therapy to promote unimanual and bimanual UE function. Training sessions will be based on playful child-friendly themes (e.g., dinosaurs, space exploration, aquatic theme, etc.) and all training activities will incorporate the session theme. Activities will involve practice of functional gross and fine motor UE movement patterns that children typically use during daily life. Training will emphasize the use of the affected UE in different roles (i.e., stabilizer, mobilizer, and active and passive assist) during warm-up, building, and art-craft activities. The training will be progressed in terms of forces needed, range of motion, precision, and movement speed.
Interventions
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SPEED Training
Children will use ride-on toys controlled using their affected arm to navigate through their environment and complete playful theme-based challenges. Children will use their affected UE during navigation to start and stop the toy, move steadily forward and backward, turn to the right and left, perform 180° and 360° turns to either side, and avoid obstacles. Children will complete object-based UE tasks requiring gross and fine motor control at intermediate stops during navigation. Navigational tasks will be progressed by increasing complexity of paths (straight to slalom paths needing more directional changes), spaces (wide to narrow spaces), and precision (obstacle courses and mazes requiring skillful navigation, motor planning, and route finding). Object-based tasks will be progressed in terms of force requirements (small to large forces), range of motion (near to far reaches), precision (manipulation of large to small objects), and speed of movements (slow to fast).
CRAFT Training
Children will engage in predominantly seated activities based on conventional occupational therapy to promote unimanual and bimanual UE function. Training sessions will be based on playful child-friendly themes (e.g., dinosaurs, space exploration, aquatic theme, etc.) and all training activities will incorporate the session theme. Activities will involve practice of functional gross and fine motor UE movement patterns that children typically use during daily life. Training will emphasize the use of the affected UE in different roles (i.e., stabilizer, mobilizer, and active and passive assist) during warm-up, building, and art-craft activities. The training will be progressed in terms of forces needed, range of motion, precision, and movement speed.
Other Intervention Names
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria
* Diagnosed with hemiplegia by a medical doctor with clear asymmetry in upper extremity strength and control (i.e., one upper limb is clearly weaker than the other)
* Can maintain a supported sitting position for at least 15 minutes
Exclusion Criteria
* Recent history (within past 6 months) of trauma or surgery or Botox
* Uncorrected blindness/profound visual impairment
* Fixed deformities at wrist or hand
* No active control in affected UE
* Inability to follow 2-step directions
* Weight \> 150 lbs.
3 Years
8 Years
ALL
No
Sponsors
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Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
NIH
University of Connecticut
OTHER
Responsible Party
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Sudha Srinivasan
Assistant Professor
Locations
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Physical Therapy Program, Department of Kinesiology, University of Connecticut
Storrs, Connecticut, United States
Countries
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Central Contacts
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Facility Contacts
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Sudha M Srinivasan, PhD
Role: primary
References
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Srinivasan S, Amonkar N, Kumavor PD, Bubela D, Morgan K. Joystick-Operated Ride-On Toy Navigation Training for Children With Hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy: A Pilot Study. Am J Occup Ther. 2024 Jul 1;78(4):7804185070. doi: 10.5014/ajot.2024.050589.
Shahane V, Kumavor PD, Morgan K, Srinivasan S. Fast and Fun: A Pilot Feasibility Study Using Dual Joystick-Operated Ride-on Toys for Upper Extremity Rehabilitation in Children with Hemiplegia. Phys Occup Ther Pediatr. 2024;44(6):844-864. doi: 10.1080/01942638.2024.2360462. Epub 2024 Jun 11.
Srinivasan S, Kumavor PD, Morgan K. A Pilot Feasibility Study on the Use of Dual-Joystick-Operated Ride-on Toys in Upper Extremity Rehabilitation for Children with Unilateral Cerebral Palsy. Children (Basel). 2024 Mar 29;11(4):408. doi: 10.3390/children11040408.
Srinivasan S, Kumavor P, Morgan K. A Training Program Using Modified Joystick-Operated Ride-on Toys to Complement Conventional Upper Extremity Rehabilitation in Children with Cerebral Palsy: Results from a Pilot Study. Bioengineering (Basel). 2024 Mar 23;11(4):304. doi: 10.3390/bioengineering11040304.
Srinivasan S, Amonkar N, Kumavor PD, Bubela D. Measuring Upper Extremity Activity of Children With Unilateral Cerebral Palsy Using Wrist-Worn Accelerometers: A Pilot Study. Am J Occup Ther. 2024 Mar 1;78(2):7802180050. doi: 10.5014/ajot.2024.050443.
Srinivasan S, Amonkar N, Kumavor P, Morgan K, Bubela D. Outcomes Associated with a Single Joystick-Operated Ride-on-Toy Navigation Training Incorporated into a Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy Program: A Pilot Feasibility Study. Behav Sci (Basel). 2023 May 15;13(5):413. doi: 10.3390/bs13050413.
Shahane V, Kumavor P, Morgan K, Friel KM, Srinivasan SM. A protocol for a single-arm interventional study assessing the effects of a home-based joystick-operated ride-on-toy navigation training programme to improve affected upper extremity function and spontaneous use in children with unilateral cerebral palsy (UCP). BMJ Open. 2023 May 9;13(5):e071742. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-071742.
Amonkar N, Kumavor P, Morgan K, Bubela D, Srinivasan S. Feasibility of Using Joystick-Operated Ride-on-Toys to Promote Upper Extremity Function in Children With Cerebral Palsy: A Pilot Study. Pediatr Phys Ther. 2022 Oct 1;34(4):508-517. doi: 10.1097/PEP.0000000000000944. Epub 2022 Aug 30.
Other Identifiers
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23-10-800-910
Identifier Type: -
Identifier Source: org_study_id
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