Rhythm and Music to Rehabilitate Reading Disorders

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The purpose of this study is to determine whether music training is an effective treatment of reading disorders

Detailed Description
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Introduction: Children with dyslexia show deficits in temporal processing, both in language and in music. Musical activity increases phonological awareness, word segmentation, working memory, as well as reading abilities in children with typical development, a compelling evidence for a role of music training in fostering brain plasticity. Within this theoretical framework, we investigate the hypothesis that music training, by improving temporal processing and rhythm abilities, improves phonological awareness and reading skills in children with dyslexia. Methods: The study is a prospective, multicenter, open randomized controlled trial, consisting of test, rehabilitation and re-test

Official Title
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Rhythm and Music to Rehabilitate Reading Disorders

Conditions
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Reading Disability

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Music training
* Behavioral: Visual arts


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Italian native language Reading performance (accuracy and/or speed) failed on at least two of three school grade standardized Italian tests: text, words, pseudowords (cut-offs: z-score <-1.8 standard deviations from the mean for speed scores, a score <5th percentile in the accuracy scores). Hearing and neurological examination within normal range Normal or corrected-to-normal visual acuity General IQ >85 at Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children III. Exclusion Criteria: Presence of comorbidity involving Attentional Deficit Disorders with Hyperactivity (ADHD) Presence of comorbidity involving Specific Language Impairment (SLI) Presence of comorbidity involving Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) Severe emotional-relational impairments Previous formal musical or painting education for more than one year, other on-going treatment. Presence of other diseases (i.e. diabetes , cystic fibrosis, asthma...) that could influence the performance in cognitive and executive functions.

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 8 Years
Maximum Age: 11 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Treatment
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Music training<br>twice a week one hour for 30 weeks, music training | Behavioral: Music training<br>* This program was based on the Kodaly and Orff pedagogy and adapted to focus on rhythm and temporal processing.<br>|
| Active Comparator: Visual arts<br>twice a week one hour for 30 weeks, visual arts training | Behavioral: Visual arts<br>* This program emphasized visual-spatial and hand skills as well as creativity.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pseudoword reading test | The primary outcome variable was the performance in the pseudoword reading test measured in terms of accuracy (percentile of number of errors). | six months | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reading text | Reading a short standardized text, measured in terms of accuracy (percentile of number of errors) and speed (z score of reading syll/sec or time). | six months | 
| Phonological awareness | Phonemic blending task. Children have to blend sounds into words (e.g. hearing [c]-[a]-[t] and produce [cat]). The number of correct items is the dependent variable. | six months | 
| Word reading | The ability to read aloud single words and pseudowords is measured on a standardized list of 102 Italian words | six months | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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music training, rhythm