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Targeted Muscle Activation During Strength Training for Children With CP

NCT07800221 · Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING · Type: OBSERVATIONAL · Enrollment: 30

Last updated 2026-09-02

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common cause of physical disability in children and is associated with muscle weakness, spasticity, and impaired motor control. These impairments often lead to compensatory movement strategies, in which other muscles are recruited or movements are adapted to offload weaker target muscles. Although lower limb strengthening is widely used to improve motor function in children with CP, outcomes remain inconsistent. One potentially important but rarely examined factor is whether the intended muscles are actually activated during training. This study aims to develop and apply an activation-driven assessment protocol that combines individualized exercise selection, real-time electromyography (EMG) biofeedback, and compensation monitoring to identify conditions that promote target-muscle activation while limiting compensatory mechanisms. The focus is on three key muscle groups: hip extensors (HE), knee extensors (KE), and plantar flexors (PF). In this prospective\[JV2.1\], within-subject repeated-measures study, 30 ambulant children aged 5-12 years with spastic CP and Gross Motor Function Classification System levels I-III will complete three assessment visits in which exercise conditions and feedback strategies are compared using surface EMG and three-dimensional movement analysis.

Conditions

  • Cerebral Palsy (CP)

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Universitaire Ziekenhuizen KU Leuven

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Kaat Desloovere, Prof. dr. · Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, KU Leuven, Belgium

Eligibility

Min Age
5 Years
Max Age
12 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2026-09-01
Primary Completion
2029-02-28
Completion
2029-02-28

Countries

  • Belgium

Study Locations

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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 NCT07800221 on ClinicalTrials.gov