The proposed study will test the feasibility and effectiveness of a "Magic Camp" in children with spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsy (CP). A single group pretest-posttest design (n=10) will be used to investigate the immediate (2 weeks) and longer-term effect (3 months) of a "Magic Camp" on improving upper limb motor function and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in children with hemiplegic CP.
This project will employ a single group pretest-posttest design to investigate the impact of a "Magic Camp" on the improvement in upper limb motor function, health-related quality of life, and emotional stress among children with spastic hemiplegic CP. After the baseline evaluation, eligible participants will complete one-on-one "magic trick" training 3-hours per day for 2 consecutive weeks. The primary outcome measures will be unimanual function as measured by the Jebsen Taylor Test of Hand Function, bimanual coordination as measured by kinematic parameters using motion analysis, and spontaneous use of the more affected limb in real-life activities that demand the use of both hands as measured by the Children's Hand Experience Questionnaire. Secondary outcome measures will include HRQoL as measured by the Cerebral Palsy Quality of Life Questionnaire, in-depth dyad qualitative interviews of the caregivers and children, and emotional stress as measured by the fingernail cortisol levels.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
7
Hand-arm bimanual motor skills training
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama, United States
Unimanual skill as measured by the Jebsen Taylor Test of Hand Function
Jebsen Taylor Test of Hand Function (JTTHF) is a standardized timed test administered by occupational therapy (OT) students to assess the efficiency of unimanual grasp and release of items with six tasks. Higher scores (i.e., longer duration the participant takes to complete the task) represent poorer unimanual skills
Time frame: baseline
Bimanual coordination as measured by 3-D kinematic motion analysis
Participants will be asked to perform the task with their preferred hand choice at a self-selected pace following by an auditory go-signal. Each trial ends when the button is pressed. Five trials will be collected after 2 practice trials, and outcome measures will be averaged over the 5 trials. Longer time duration it takes for the participant to complete the task represents poorer bimanual coordination.
Time frame: baseline
Extent of the more affected hand use in daily bimanual activities as measured by the Children's Hand Experience Questionnaire (CHEQ)
CHEQ is a 29-item (parent and child report) questionnaire that evaluates the experience of children in using the more affected hand in activities where usually two hands are required. Percentage use of the more affected hand will be expressed as percentage of independent activities performed bimanually in which the more affected hand is used to stabilize or grip items. Higher percentage (ranging from 0% to 100%) represents higher extent of using the more affected hand.
Time frame: Baseline
Health-related quality of life as measured by the Cerebral Palsy Quality of Life (CPQOL) Questionnaire
CPQOL evaluates the well-being of children with CP across several broad domains such as social well-being and acceptance, and emotional well-being. Items are rated on a 9-point scale, and recoded and transformed into scaled scores (transformed to a scale of 1-100) for each domain. An average of the scale scores from all domains (family \& friends, school, communication, health, special equipment, pain and bother, and access to services) is conducted. Higher scores represent better health-related quality of life.
This platform is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional.
Time frame: Baseline
Emotional stress as measured by the amount of cortisol in participants' and their caregivers' fingernails.
Fingernail samples from every digit will be collected by clipping directly into a Ziploc® bag to avoid losing any parts of the sample. Nail samples will be sent to the Bio-Analytical Redox Biology (BARB) Core Laboratory, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) for analysis.
Time frame: Baseline
Unimanual skill as measured by the Jebsen Taylor Test of Hand Function
Jebsen Taylor Test of Hand Function (JTTHF) is a standardized timed test administered by OT students to assess the efficiency of unimanual grasp and release of items with six tasks. Higher scores (i.e., longer duration the participant takes to complete the task) represent poorer unimanual skills.
Time frame: from baseline to two weeks
Bimanual coordination as measured by 3-D kinematic motion analysis
Participants will be asked to perform the task with their preferred hand choice at a self-selected pace following by an auditory go-signal. Each trial ends when the button is pressed. Five trials will be collected after 2 practice trials, and outcome measures will be averaged over the 5 trials.Longer time duration it takes for the participant to complete the task represents poorer bimanual coordination.
Time frame: from baseline to two weeks
Extent of the more affected hand use in daily bimanual activities as measured by the Children's Hand Experience Questionnaire (CHEQ)
CHEQ is a 29-item (parent and child report) questionnaire that evaluates the experience of children in using the more affected hand in activities where usually two hands are required. Percentage use of the more affected hand will be expressed as percentage of independent activities performed bimanually in which the more affected hand is used to stabilize or grip items. Higher percentage (ranging from 0% to 100%) represents higher extent of using the more affected hand.
Time frame: from baseline to two weeks
Health-related quality of life as measured by the Cerebral Palsy Quality of Life (CPQOL) Questionnaire
CPQOL evaluates the well-being of children with CP across several broad domains such as social well-being and acceptance, and emotional well-being. Items are rated on a 9-point scale, and recoded and transformed into scaled scores for each domain. An average of the scale scores from all domains (family \& friends, school, communication, health, special equipment, pain and bother, and access to services) is conducted. Higher scores represent better health-related quality of life.
Time frame: from baseline to two weeks
Unimanual skill as measured by the Jebsen Taylor Test of Hand Function
Jebsen Taylor Test of Hand Function (JTTHF) is a standardized timed test administered by OT students to assess the efficiency of unimanual grasp and release of items with six tasks. Higher scores (i.e., longer duration the participant takes to complete the task) represent poorer unimanual skills.
Time frame: from two weeks to three months
Bimanual coordination as measured by 3-D kinematic motion analysis
Participants will be asked to perform the task with their preferred hand choice at a self-selected pace following by an auditory go-signal. Each trial ends when the button is pressed. Five trials will be collected after 2 practice trials, and outcome measures will be averaged over the 5 trials. Longer time duration it takes for the participant to complete the task represents poorer bimanual coordination.
Time frame: from two weeks to three months
Extent of the more affected hand use in daily bimanual activities as measured by the Children's Hand Experience Questionnaire (CHEQ)
CHEQ is a 29-item (parent and child report) questionnaire that evaluates the experience of children in using the more affected hand in activities where usually two hands are required. Percentage use of the more affected hand will be expressed as percentage of independent activities performed bimanually in which the more affected hand is used to stabilize or grip items. Higher percentage (ranging from 0% to 100%) represents higher extent of using the more affected hand.
Time frame: from two weeks to three months
Health-related quality of life as measured by the Cerebral Palsy Quality of Life (CPQOL) Questionnaire
CPQOL evaluates the well-being of children with CP across several broad domains such as social well-being and acceptance, and emotional well-being. Items are rated on a 9-point scale, and recoded and transformed into scaled scores for each domain. An average of the scale scores from all domains (family \& friends, school, communication, health, special equipment, pain and bother, and access to services) is conducted. Higher scores represent better health-related quality of life.
Time frame: from two weeks to three months
Emotional stress as measured by the amount of cortisol in participants' and their caregivers' fingernails.
Fingernail samples from every digit will be collected by clipping directly into a Ziploc® bag to avoid losing any parts of the sample. Nail samples will be sent to the BARB Core Laboratory, UAB for analysis.
Time frame: from baseline to three months