Clinical trial NCT03475355: Action Observation Theraphy in Parkinson's Disease
Official title: Action Observation Therapy: a Chance for Parkinson's Disease Patients of Improving Mobility Through a Home-based Training
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: UNKNOWN
Phase: NA
Conditions: Parkinson Disease
Keywords: action observation
parkinson's disease
physical therapy
home-based
neural plasticity
telerehabilitation
Lead sponsor: IRCCS San Camillo, Venezia, Italy
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: University of Genova
name: Università Politecnica delle Marche
First posted: 2018-03-23
Enrollment: 90
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 80
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: The main objective of this project is to evaluate the effectiveness of Observation of Action (Action Observation, AO) both in increasing the speed of movement of the upper limbs, agility and locomotion, and in improving the activities and quality of life in people with Parkinson's disease (PD) during a 4-6 month follow-up. The second objective is to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of a tele-rehabilitation protocol using home-based AO therapy. The telecommunication technology will provide a complete training through a low-cost software run on a touch-screen device, which will show the actions to be imitated several times by people with PD. This project will be the first attempt to implement AO-based treatment at home and, if successful, will be highly translational to clinical practice thanks to the advanced development and broad accessibility of information technology and telecommunications in our country. Furthermore, continuous exercise will reduce the risks of complications and the frequency of hospital admissions, thus reducing costs for the National Health System.

Detailed description: The main objective of this project is to evaluate the effectiveness of Observation of Action (AO) both in increasing the speed of movement of the upper limbs, agility and locomotion, and in improving activities and quality of life in people with Parkinson's disease (PD) during a 4-6 month follow-up. The second objective is to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of a tele-rehabilitation protocol using home-based AO therapy. The telecommunication technology will provide a complete training through a low-cost software run on a touch-screen device, which will show the actions to be imitated several times by people with PD. This project will be the first attempt to implement AO-based treatment at home and, if successful, will be highly translational to clinical practice thanks to the advanced development and broad accessibility of information technology and telecommunications in our country. Furthermore, continuous exercise will reduce the risks of complications and the frequency of hospital admissions, thus reducing costs for the National Health System.

Parkinson's disease (PD) should impose a growing social and economic burden on our country. In fact, even with optimal medical management, people with PD experience a worsening of mobility and independence in daily activities, with a consequent reduction in quality of life. In the last ten years there has been a growing demand to consider rehabilitation as an essential adjunct to pharmacological treatment. However, the reference rates for physiotherapy for people with Parkinson's disease have been historically low, both because of poor compliance by patients with the therapies of the movement and because of the scarce availability of physiotherapy services. Action Observation Therapy (AO) has recently been described as an effective strategy in stroke rehabilitation (Sale 2011, 2012), since it can shape the reorganization of the neural circuit, promote neural plasticity and motor learning. . The purpose of this study is to verify the efficacy of AO therapy on PD-related disability and to verify the feasibility of a home-based AO protocol.

The first specific objective of this project is to evaluate the effectiveness of action observation as an additional rehabilitative tool to improve upper limb function in terms of bradykinesia and dexterity and to investigate the stability of treatment effects after 4 / 6 months of follow-up regarding functional improvement and quality of life (QoL). The second specific objective of this project is to evaluate the effectiveness of the observation of the action as an additional rehabilitative tool to improve the balance , gait and, consequently, to reduce falls, and to investigate the stability of treatment effects at 4/6 months of follow-up in terms of functional improvement and quality of life (QoL). The third objective is to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of a home telerehabilitation protocol (TR) based on AO therapy to improve dexterity and ambulation in people with Parkinson's disease.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Diagnosis of idiopathic PD according to the UK BRAIN BANK criteria;
* Age between 18 and 80 years;
* Able to walk 25 meters without help or with minimal assistance and sufficient strength to remain standing for at least 20 minutes without assistance for patient report; Stability of drug therapy for Parkinson's disease for at least 4 weeks before the start of the study;
* Mini-Mental State Examination\> 25/30;
* HAM-D (Hamilton Depression Scale) \<17.

Exclusion Criteria:

* comorbidity with other neurological disorders;
* heart or orthopedic problems;
* Chronic alcohol abuse.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Box and Block test
timeFrame: 4 weeks
measure: Nine Hole Peg Test
timeFrame: 4 weeks
Secondary outcomes:
measure: MDS-UPDRS part II
timeFrame: 4 weeks
measure: MDS-UPDRS part III
timeFrame: 4 weeks
measure: PDQ-39
timeFrame: 4 weeks
measure: Small Coin Rotation Test
timeFrame: 4 weeks
measure: Small Lock Rotation Test
timeFrame: 4 weeks
measure: Clinical Global Impression Scale
timeFrame: 4 weeks
measure: 3D Movement Analysis
timeFrame: 4 weeks
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Venezia
country: Italy
facility: IRCCS San Camillo Hospital
Study officials:
affiliation: IRCCS San Raffaele
name: Francesco Infarinato, PhD
role: STUDY_DIRECTOR
affiliation: Univesity of Padua
name: Patrizio Sale, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Franceschini M, Ceravolo MG, Agosti M, Cavallini P, Bonassi S, Dall'Armi V, Massucci M, Schifini F, Sale P. Clinical relevance of action observation in upper-limb stroke rehabilitation: a possible role in recovery of functional dexterity. A randomized clinical trial. Neurorehabil Neural Repair. 2012 Jun;26(5):456-62. doi: 10.1177/1545968311427406. Epub 2012 Jan 10.
citation: Pelosin E, Bove M, Ruggeri P, Avanzino L, Abbruzzese G. Reduction of bradykinesia of finger movements by a single session of action observation in Parkinson disease. Neurorehabil Neural Repair. 2013 Jul-Aug;27(6):552-60. doi: 10.1177/1545968312471905. Epub 2013 Feb 7.
citation: Cross ES, Liepelt R, Hamilton AF, Parkinson J, Ramsey R, Stadler W, Prinz W. Robotic movement preferentially engages the action observation network. Hum Brain Mapp. 2012 Sep;33(9):2238-54. doi: 10.1002/hbm.21361. Epub 2011 Sep 6.
citation: Alegre M, Guridi J, Artieda J. The mirror system, theory of mind and Parkinson's disease. J Neurol Sci. 2011 Nov 15;310(1-2):194-6. doi: 10.1016/j.jns.2011.07.030. Epub 2011 Aug 11.
citation: Buccino G, Gatti R, Giusti MC, Negrotti A, Rossi A, Calzetti S, Cappa SF. Action observation treatment improves autonomy in daily activities in Parkinson's disease patients: results from a pilot study. Mov Disord. 2011 Aug 15;26(10):1963-4. doi: 10.1002/mds.23745. Epub 2011 May 5. No abstract available.
citation: Pelosin E, Avanzino L, Bove M, Stramesi P, Nieuwboer A, Abbruzzese G. Action observation improves freezing of gait in patients with Parkinson's disease. Neurorehabil Neural Repair. 2010 Oct;24(8):746-52. doi: 10.1177/1545968310368685. Epub 2010 May 7.
citation: Sale P, Franceschini M. Action observation and mirror neuron network: a tool for motor stroke rehabilitation. Eur J Phys Rehabil Med. 2012 Jun;48(2):313-8. Epub 2012 Apr 20.
citation: Alegre M, Rodriguez-Oroz MC, Valencia M, Perez-Alcazar M, Guridi J, Iriarte J, Obeso JA, Artieda J. Changes in subthalamic activity during movement observation in Parkinson's disease: is the mirror system mirrored in the basal ganglia? Clin Neurophysiol. 2010 Mar;121(3):414-25. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2009.11.013. Epub 2009 Dec 16.
citation: Franceschini M, Agosti M, Cantagallo A, Sale P, Mancuso M, Buccino G. Mirror neurons: action observation treatment as a tool in stroke rehabilitation. Eur J Phys Rehabil Med. 2010 Dec;46(4):517-23. Epub 2010 Apr 23.