Strategy Training on Improving Executive Functions in Persons Following Acquired Brain Injury
Study Details
Study Description
Brief Summary
Method: Participants with a diagnosis of acquired brain injury (ABI) will be randomly assigned to the intervention group and the attention control group at a 1:1 ratio. Participants received 2 sessions per week for 10 to 20 sessions.
Outcome measures including the Participation Measure- 3 Domains, 4 Dimensions (PM-3D4D), Canadian Occupational Performance Measure(COPM), Activity Measure for Post-Acute Care (AMPAC) Outpatient Short Forms, Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST), and Participation Strategies Self Efficacy Scale (PS-SES) will be administered at baseline (T1), post-intervention (T2), 3-month follow-up (T3), 6-month follow-up (T4), and 12-month follow-up (T5).
| Condition or Disease | Intervention/Treatment | Phase |
|---|---|---|
|
N/A |
Detailed Description
This proposed study aims to examine the efficacy of a strategy training intervention program on improving executive functions and lessoning disability among community-dwelling people with ABI, and to determine whether the effects of the intervention persist 1 year following the intervention.
To address these purposes, a double-blinded, parallel-group randomized controlled trial will be implemented to assess the efficacy of the strategy training intervention program in comparison to the control group. An expected sample of 180 adults with ABI-related cognitive impairments and are undergoing outpatient rehabilitation services will be recruited.
These participants will be blinded and randomly assigned to the intervention group and the attention control group at a 1:1 ratio. The primary outcome measures, including Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST), Stroop Test, Trail-Making Test, and Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA), will be administered at baseline (T1), post-intervention (T2), 3-month follow-up (T3), 6-month follow-up (T4), and 12-month follow-up (T5). Data will be analyzed quantitatively andqualitatively.
Findings of this study will provide important evidence on whether the strategy training intervention has immediate and long-term effect on executive functions. These findings will together support the application of the program in rehabilitation practice and inform future study development.
Study Design
Arms and Interventions
| Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
|---|---|
| Experimental: Assigned Interventions The OPASS program will be delivered to the intervention group. The intervention protocols of the OPASS program were developed based on the strategy training guidelines developed by Skidmore et al. and based on the findings identified from the feasibility study. Trained research therapists will take the responsibility for delivering the intervention to participants. The program consists of four critical ingredients: self-selected goals, self-evaluation of performance, strategy development, and implementation, and therapeutic guided discovery. |
Behavioral: Strategy Training
This approach is different from traditional direct skill training, which emphasizes clinicians' responsibility on identifying their patients' challenges in performing activities and teaching patients task-specific problem-solving strategies. Strategy training, on the other hand, requires clinicians to take a role as a facilitator, guiding participants to learn through prompts and questions. In the training process, participants learn to develop their own problem-solving strategies and work through the problems they have, through which they can develop self-efficacy and confidence to manage participation challenges. Participants can also generalize the strategies they learn to other similar problems they encounter in daily life.
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| No Intervention: Reflective listening Participants in the control group will receive dose-matched non-active intervention carried out by a trained research staff. The staff will use scripted questions to provoke participants to describe their experiences and feelings about their disease and their usual-care rehabilitation activities. |
Outcome Measures
Primary Outcome Measures
- Participation Measure- 3 Domains, 4 Dimensions (PM-3D4D) [From baseline to 12-month follow-up]
The PM-3D4D is a 19-item measure that was designed to evaluate three domains of participation: Productivity, Social, and Community. Respondents are asked to rate each item on four dimensions: (1) 'Diversity of participation' (yes [1] vs. no [0]); (2) 'Frequency'(5- and 7-point scales, from "never" to "everyday or almost everyday"); (3) 'Desire for change' (yes [1] vs. no[0]); and (4) 'Perceived difficulty' (4-point scale, from "very difficult" [1] to "not difficult at all" [4]). Each dimensional score of the PM-3D4D can be separately summed for each domain. Psychometric properties of the PM-3D4D were established in rehabilitation populations.
Secondary Outcome Measures
- Activity Measure for Post-Acute Care (AMPAC) Outpatient Short Forms [From baseline to 12-month follow-up]
The AM-PAC consists of three subscales that assesses three activity domains: basic mobility (18 items), daily activity (15 items), and applied cognitive (19 items). Each item asks the respondent to rate the difficulty to perform specified activities using a 4-point scale. The summary scores for each subscale will be transformed into standardized scores on the t-score scale.
- HEAL positive outlook questionnaire [From baseline to 12-month follow-up]
he HEAL positive outlook questionnaire will be used to assess participant's positive attitude.
- Participation Strategies self-efficacy Scale (PS-SES) [From baseline to 12-month follow-up]
The PSSES was developed to measure self-efficacy in managing home participation, community participation, productivity, communication, staying organized, and advocating for resources. The scale consists of 35 items. Each item is rated using a 1-10 Likert scale, with higher score indicating greater self-efficacy.
- Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) [From baseline to 12-month follow-up]
The COPM inquires the client to identify important goals in their daily life and rate their performance and satisfaction for each goal on a 10-point visual analog scale.
- Stroop Test [From baseline to 12-month follow-up]
Participants will be asked to read out the ink color of the word as accurately and as soon as possible. The ink color of the word could be congruent or incongruent with the written color name. Each participant's time to complete the task will be calculated and recorded. Construct validity of the Stroop Test in the TBI population has been published.
- Trail-Making Test (TMT A and B) [From baseline to 12-month follow-up]
Trail-Making Test (TMT A and B) will be used to measure sustained attention, sequencing, mental flexibility, and visual tracking. TMT-A requires the individual to link in an ascending order a series of 25 numbered circles distributed randomly on a test paper as quickly as possible. TMT-B is similar, although it requires the individual to link switching alternatively between a set of numbers (1-13) and a set of letters (A-L) in an ascending order (1-A-2-B-3-C...). The Time to complete TMT A and B will be calculated, in which a longer completion time will indicate poorer outcome. This instrument was validated in healthy people, patients with head injury, vascular disorders, and other diverse populations.
- Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) [From the first session to the last session of the study, up to 10 weeks]
MoCA Test allows people to quickly assess a patients cognitive health.
- The National Institutes of Health Stroke scale (NIHSS) [From baseline to 12-month follow-up]
The National Institutes of Health Stroke scale (NIHSS) will be used to assess participant's health related quality of life.
- Modified Rankin Scale (MRS) [From baseline to 12-month follow-up]
The modified Rankin Scale (MRS) will be used to assess participant's health related quality of life.
- Euro-QoL-5-Dimension (EQ-5D) [From baseline to 12-month follow-up]
The Euro-QoL-5-Dimension (EQ-5D) will be used to assess participant's health related quality of life.
- Qualitative data [After intervention, an average of 2 month]
Qualitative in-depth interviews with participants, caregivers, and therapists will be conducted following the intervention. Data regarding the interviewees' experiences, satisfaction, and their perceived effectiveness of the intervention will be collected.
Eligibility Criteria
Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
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Ages 20 years and older
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Has a diagnosis of Acquired Brain Injury
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Understand Mandarin
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Has cognitive impairment
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Provide informed consent
Exclusion Criteria:
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Have severe aphasia
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Have a pre-stroke diagnosis of dementia, current major depressive disorder, substance use, or other psychiatric disorders that may impede them from continually participating in the study.
Contacts and Locations
Locations
| Site | City | State | Country | Postal Code | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | National Taiwan University Hospital Bei-Hu branch | Taipei | Taiwan | ||
| 2 | National Taiwan University Hospital | Taipei | Taiwan | ||
| 3 | Taipei Medical University | Taipei | Taiwan |
Sponsors and Collaborators
- Taipei Medical University
Investigators
None specified.Study Documents (Full-Text)
None provided.More Information
Publications
None provided.- N201905030