Rehabilitation Clinical Trials

This pilot study for stroke patients with chronic upper limb hemiplegia will examine the effects of non-invasive brain stimulation and neuromuscular electrical stimulation on hand motor control and corticospinal excitability. Specifically, this study will investigate the effects of timing and delivery of tDCS in conjunction with contralaterally controlled functional electrical stimulation. Read Less

This project is a 2-phase, randomized clinical trial that includes 7 days of unilateral leg disuse (Phase 1), immediately followed by 1 week of bilateral leg rehabilitation (Phase 2). The investigators will recruit cohorts of healthy middle-aged men and women to address their aims: * Demonstrate the sex-specific effects of skeletal muscle disuse (Phase 1) * Identify key molecular determinates of susceptibility of skeletal muscle atrophy (Phase 1) * Map the early, sex-specific molecular time-course of rehabilitation (Phase 2) * Determine if disused and healthy muscle respond similarly to exercise (Phase 2) Healthy, middle-age men and post-menopausal women (50-65 years) will be recruited from the greater Houston/Galveston area. This under-represented research demographic demonstrate few negative metabolic or phenotypic signs of advanced age, but are at increased risk of being hospitalized and experiencing accelerated loss of lean mass and muscle function that parallels a much older population. The goal of this study is to characterize phenotypic and molecular skeletal muscle changes in middle-aged men and women during critical periods of disuse and rehabilitation and ultimately direct the development of targeted and effective prevention and treatment strategies. Read Less

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a significant problem for U.S. Hispanic children. Compared to non-Hispanic children, Hispanic children have higher long-term disability and lower health related quality of life, even though differences are not present at hospital discharge. Rehabilitation decreases disability, but needs timely initiation, and long treatments in hospitals, community healthcare facilities and schools. Parents play a key role in their child's recovery. Hispanic parents face additional barriers to initiate and maintain outpatient treatments. They report knowledge gaps in TBI-education, community, and school support systems; language and health literacy barriers. The investigators developed, a bilingual bicultural theory-based program for Hispanic families consisting of Brain Injury Education and outpatient care Navigation (1st BIEN). It integrates in-person education enriched by video content delivered through mobile phones, with navigation during transitions to outpatient care and school return. The pilot established feasibility and acceptability of the program. This randomized control trial will determine efficacy to maintain long-term adherence to rehabilitation and reduce disability. It will enroll 150 parent-child dyads: children (6-17 y), with mild-complicated, moderate-severe TBI in 5 centers in Washington, Texas, Dallas, Utah and Oregon and their parents. Intervention group parents receive: One in-person education session, plus bi-weekly videos tailored to the child's TBI and therapies; and, 3-months of bilingual outpatient care navigation. Attention control parents receive one in person-education session, monthly well-child texts and usual institutional follow up care. Primary outcome is treatment adherence at 6 months post-discharge measured by percentage of follow-up appointments attended during the prescribed time at hospitals, and community care facilities. Secondary outcomes are functional status of the child using PROMIS parental report measures; and parental health literacy, self-efficacy, and mental health at 3, 6, and 12 months after discharge. Child's academic performance will be assessed using school records. The study evaluates a flexible and scalable intervention using mobile phones to aid transitions of care, improve treatment adherence and TBI outcomes. It addresses the needs of an understudied population and can serve as a model for TBI family centered care for at risk groups. Read Less

Current clinical assessment tools are often not sensitive enough to detect and treat some subtle (yet troubling) problems after mTBI. In this study, the investigators will use wearable sensors to both assess and treat people with mTBI. Specifically, the investigators will provide immediate feedback, with visual and/or auditory, on movement quality during physical therapy. This immediate feedback on performance may improve outcomes as the investigators will measure multiple body segments including head movements simultaneously with balance and walking exercises. Such complex movements are needed for safe return to high level activity and military duty. The investigators will test this approach against a standard vestibular rehabilitation program. There are few potential risks to this study such as increasing symptoms and a small fall risk. Benefits include physical therapy for balance problems regardless of therapy with or without biofeedback. An indirect benefit is to have data on correct dosage of physical therapy. The investigators will also distinguish which concussion subtype profiles benefit most from physical therapy. This will help healthcare providers and patients by providing more information to help establish clinical guidelines and new tools for physical therapy. Read Less

Skilled Nursing Facility at Home is a multicenter randomized control trial that aims to evaluate a home-based model of providing post-acute care (PAC). We will enroll 650 hospitalized patients who require rehabilitation and/or skilled-nursing support upon discharge and randomly assign them to an intervention (home-based PAC) or control arm (facility-based PAC). Our design includes two different health systems in Massachusetts: Baystate Health and UMass Memorial Health. We will perform 1:1 randomization between the intervention and control arm using a permuted block design, with stratification by clinical site and payor group. The primary outcome of the trial will be the difference in hospital readmission and mortality rates from the time of enrollment to 30 days after enrollment. Secondary clinical, functional, and cost outcomes include length of stay in PAC, difference in health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and healthcare cost and utilization. Read Less

Respiratory motor control deficit is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with spinal cord injury. The long-term goal of this NIH-funded study is to develop a rehabilitation strategy for respiration in patients with spinal cord injury as a standard of care. Respiratory function in patients with chronic spinal cord injury can be improved by using inspiratory-expiratory pressure threshold respiratory training protocol. However, the effectiveness of this intervention is limited by the levels of functional capacity preserved below the neurological level of injury. Preliminary data obtained for this study demonstrate that electrical spinal cord stimulation applied epidurally at the lumbar level in combination with respiratory training can activate and re-organize spinal motor networks for respiration. This study is designed to investigate respiratory motor control-related responses to epidural spinal cord stimulation alone and in combination with respiratory training. By characterization of respiratory muscle activation patterns using surface electromyography in association with pulmonary functional and respiration-related cardiovascular measures, the investigators expect to determine the specific stimulation parameters needed to increase spinal excitability below level of injury to enhance responses to the input from supraspinal centers that remain after injury and to promote the neural plasticity driven by the respiratory training. This hypothesis will be tested by pursuing two Specific Aims: 1) Evaluate the acute effects of epidural spinal cord stimulation on respiratory functional and motor control properties; and 2) Evaluate the effectiveness of epidural spinal cord stimulation combined with respiratory training. Read Less

We will perform a parallel-group multicenter patient-level randomized controlled evaluation of skilled nursing facility care at home. Patients typically referred to a skilled nursing facility following hospitalization will be eligible for enrollment. Instead of admission to a skilled nursing facility, participants will receive care from a technology-enabled team in their own homes or will be allocated to receive care in a traditional skilled nursing facility setting. Read Less

Sleep is critical for health and quality of life; however, little is known about the prevalence or impact of non obstructive sleep apnea (non-OSA) sleep disorders in people with stroke. The proposed study aims to characterize the proportion of people with stroke that have non-OSA sleep disorders and their impact on recovery of activities of daily living, functional mobility, and participation along the continuum of recovery in people with stroke. Read Less

More and more people are surviving after receiving life support for respiratory failure in the intensive care unit, but these patients often experience problems with depression and physical functioning that lead to reduced quality of life. There is a lack of treatment for these patients, with past research suggesting that treatment may be more successful if mental and physical health are addressed at the same time. This research evaluates whether a therapy delivered via telephone and home visits, combining treatment for depression and physical rehabilitation, is feasible and might help patients recover. Read Less