A Physical Therapy Program Targeting Lower Extremity Selective Motor Control in Children With Spastic Cerebral Palsy

NCT ID: NCT07310550

Last Updated: 2026-01-09

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 23 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2014-05-01
• Study Completion Date: 2019-01-07

Brief Summary

The goal of this intervention study is to learn whether a physical therapy exercise camp called will improve leg movement (motor control) and functional ability in children with spastic CP who are between 5 and 18 years. The main questions the study aims to answer are:

• Does the ability to move the knee at high velocities improve?
• Does function such as walking, running, hopping, climbing stairs improve?
• Will the brain tracts that control movement change?
• Will children who have better independent control of joint motion improve more?

All participants will:

• Attend 15 sessions of an exercise camp for 3 hours per day
• Perform a home exercise program after the camp ends

Measurements:

• Lower extremity selective motor control
• Knee muscle strength at high speeds using an exercise machine
• Gross motor function
• Gait analysis (walking patterns)
• Parent's perception of their child's ability and their satisfaction with that ability
• Change in brain motor tracts using a scanner (MRI) for participants that meet the inclusion criteria for MRI

MRI measurements will be taken twice (before and immediately after the treatment). All other measurements and will be taken 3 times (before, immediately after the treatment and approximately 4 months after the treatment).

Conditions

Spastic Cerebral Palsy

Study Design

• Allocation Method: NA
• Intervention Model: SINGLE_GROUP
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

Participants who have the intervention

physical therapy exercise intervention

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Selective movement of individual lower limb joints

Intervention Type: OTHER

Children practices moving the joints of each lower leg independently.

Knee joint strengthening at high velocities

Intervention Type: OTHER

In sitting, the thigh and trunk are secured to a seat and the lower leg to a moving arm that provides resistance at exercise velocities progressing up to a maximum of 300 deg/s.

Ankle controlled gaming

Intervention Type: OTHER

With the child in sitting, the ankle is secured to a moving segment. The child can control games such as tennis by dorsiflexing and plantar flexing their ankle at increasing velocities to meet the demands of the game.

Functional activities based on child and parental goals

Intervention Type: OTHER

The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure is used to identify functional goals. Activities to address these goals are designed by physical therapists and practiced during camp.

Sensori-motor exercises

Intervention Type: OTHER

Walking barefoot over sand and grass. Foot and ankle sensory exploration using materials with various textures.

Interventions

Selective movement of individual lower limb joints

Children practices moving the joints of each lower leg independently.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Knee joint strengthening at high velocities

In sitting, the thigh and trunk are secured to a seat and the lower leg to a moving arm that provides resistance at exercise velocities progressing up to a maximum of 300 deg/s.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Ankle controlled gaming

With the child in sitting, the ankle is secured to a moving segment. The child can control games such as tennis by dorsiflexing and plantar flexing their ankle at increasing velocities to meet the demands of the game.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Functional activities based on child and parental goals

The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure is used to identify functional goals. Activities to address these goals are designed by physical therapists and practiced during camp.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Sensori-motor exercises

Walking barefoot over sand and grass. Foot and ankle sensory exploration using materials with various textures.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• spastic cerebral palsy
• age between 5-18 years
• ability to walk at least 10 meters
• ability to follow simple verbal directions

Exclusion Criteria

All participants

• botulinum toxin or serial casting within the preceding 3 months
• recent orthopedic or neurological surgery within the preceding 12 months
• uncontrolled seizures

For participants undergoing MRI

• inability to lie still
• incompatible metal implants
• baclofen pumps or shunts

• Minimum Eligible Age: 5 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

University of California, Los Angeles

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Eileen Fowler

Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Eileen G Fowler, PhD, PT

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of California, Los Angeles

Locations

Center for Cerebral Palsy at UCLA/Orthopaedic Institute for Children

Los Angeles, California, United States

Countries

United States

References

Vuong A, Joshi SH, Staudt LA, Matsumoto JH, Fowler EG. Improved Myelination following Camp Leg Power, a Selective Motor Control Intervention for Children with Spastic Bilateral Cerebral Palsy: A Diffusion Tensor MRI Study. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2023 Jun;44(6):700-706. doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A7860. Epub 2023 May 4.

Reference Type: RESULT

PMID: 37142433 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

14-0414

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id