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Power Wheelchair Joystick Use in Spastic Cerebral Palsy

NCT00337688 · Status: COMPLETED · Type: OBSERVATIONAL · Enrollment: 50

Last updated 2011-09-14

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

There are over 750,000 individuals in the U.S. with Cerebral Palsy (CP). Up to 46% of adults with CP report limited mobility in their communities. However, upper limb spasticity and problems with movement can make the independent use of a wheelchair difficult. Forty percent of individuals who desire mobility via electric wheelchairs are precluded from using them because of problems with upper limb function. No studies to date have produced devices that definitively improve mobility for these individuals. We will recruit 22 subjects with Spastic CP and 22 age and gender matched control subjects without apparent disability from advertisements, mailings, and outpatient clinics. Both a conventional joystick (MSJ) and a novel joystick that is customized for each subject will each be used six different computer screen tasks that simulate driving a wheelchair on a path. We will compare subjects and joysticks based on driving performance. Understanding problems with driving will help us to design joysticks and other assistive devices, not only for CP but for Traumatic Brain Injury, Spinal Cord Injury, Parkinson's Disease, stroke, or a variety of other disabilities.

Conditions

  • Cerebral Palsy
  • Spasticity

Interventions

DEVICE

isometric joystick

isometric joystick

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Human Engineering Research Laboratories

    collaborator OTHER

  • University of Pittsburgh

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Brad Dicianno, MD · Human Engineering Research Laboratories

Eligibility

Min Age
12 Years
Max Age
80 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2006-07-31
Primary Completion
2008-06-30
Completion
2008-06-30

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT00337688 on ClinicalTrials.gov