Clinical trial NCT02104102: Biomedical Instrumentation in the Study of Mirror Therapy in Elderly's Hands Motor Activity
Official title: Biomedical Instrumentation in the Study of Mirror Therapy in Elderly's Hands Motor Activity
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: UNKNOWN
Phase: NA
Conditions: Muscle Weakness Conditions
Keywords: Elderly
mirror therapy
hands
Lead sponsor: Universidade do Vale do Paraíba
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2014-04-04
Enrollment: 60
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 60
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL

Brief summary: Check if the Mirror therapy represents an effective method in improving the motor activity of the hands of institutionalized elderly.

Detailed description: Among the various functions impaired by aging there is the muscle function, which indirectly affects the quality of life for seniors, since it is crucial to the progressive increase of the debilitating condition, leading to difficulties in carrying out everyday tasks and often making them dependent on the assistance of others. The possible neural mechanisms underlying this decrease in muscle function associated with aging include changes undefined in Central Nervous System, a delay in conduction velocity of motor nerve fibers and in transmission of the neuromuscular junction. In this context, it is necessary to develop procedures that reduce the functional losses and decrease the negative effects of the aging process, increasing the quality of life for seniors. Mirror Therapy (MT) is the one of those possible procedures, which is based on the activation of mirror neurons from the illusion generated by viewing the reflection of a member in a mirror. When performing a movement with a member who is in your field of vision, generated the reflection in the mirror is able to offer the brain a new, albeit illusory visual stimulus, suggesting that covert member is moving. This illusion promotes the activation of mirror neurons located in the sensorimotor cortex region and the progression of therapy, this activation drives cortical plasticity that promotes the reestablishment of functions, such as motor coordination and increased range of motion. Therefore, MT is a promising technique to reduce the functional losses of aging. It is then suggested the implementation of a protocol for functional recovery of MT hands in institutionalized elderly and the measurement of electromyographic activity of the wrist, the range and speed of movement, the writing skill and the application of a questionnaire to Katz index calculation in order to investigate whether the technique can benefit this public.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* 60 years old or more
* Institutionalized elderly
* Ability to understand and sign the Informed Consent Form. In case of illiteracy, the term will be read to the volunteer and signed by him in the case of functional illiteracy or by officials of the asylum
* Ability to perform analysis of writing skills throughout the proposed protocol
* Cognitive preserved, being able to respond to the examiner's command

Exclusion Criteria:

* Disabling pain to perform movements with their arms
* Active infection and rash at the application site of EMG
* Severe uncorrected visual deficit
* Deficit uncorrected severe hearing
* Neurological disorders

Primary outcomes:
measure: Electromyography
timeFrame: 6 weeks
measure: Dynamometry
timeFrame: 6 weeks
measure: Functionality
timeFrame: 6 weeks
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Range of motion
timeFrame: 6 weeks
measure: Writing skill
timeFrame: 6 weeks
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: São José dos Campos
country: Brazil
facility: Laboratory of Sensory and Motor Rehabilitation Engineering
state: São Paulo
Study officials:
affiliation: Universidade do Vale do Paraíba
name: Rani S Alves, Graduate
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: