Traumatic Brain Injury
Conditions
Keywords
Sensory Stimulation Programs
Brief summary
A randomised control trial of patients who have a severe brain injury to determine if patients who receive a standardised sensory stimulation program emerge earlier from a vegetative state. The experimental group would receive, in addition to their normal occuaptional therapy, sensory stimulation which would involve the daily application of stimulation to all five senses using the Sensory Modalities Assessment and Rehabilitation Technique (SMART).
Detailed description
A randomised control trial of patients who have a severe brain injury to determine if patients who receive a standardised sensory stimulation program emerge earlier from a vegetative state. The experimental group would receive, in addition to their normal occupational therapy, sensory stimulation which would involve the daily application of stimulation to all five senses using the Sensory Modalities Assessment and Rehabilitation Technique (SMART). The SMART is both an assessment and treatment too. Patients in both groups will have baseline assessments conducted using the SMART, with further assessments conducted every ten days for thrity days. The SMART is designed to provide quantitative data in the assessment of the patients cognitive function and potential awareness. It is a five point hierarchical scale from level 1 ( no response) to level 5 (discriminating).
Interventions
PROCEDURESensory Stimulation
DEVICESesnory Modality Assessment and Rehabilitation Technique
Sponsors
Victorian Trauma Foundation
Bayside Health
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 65 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* admitted with severe brain injury * GCS of 9 or less. A GCS score of 9 or less is indicative of a severe brain injury * medically stable, as documented by medical staff * age 18 to 65 years * controlled intracranial pressure no sedation * no previous brain injury
Exclusion criteria
* patient declared brain dead * next of kin withdraws patient from the study * withdrawal of consent by patient on waking * raised uncontrolled intracranial pressure, following discussions with treating medical team * patient enrolled in DECRA or RSI Trials
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Patients are allocated to a level on the SMART scale every ten days, compariosns are made between the control and experimental groups | — |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Fucntional status at six months, assessed using the modified Barthel | — |
Countries
Australia
Contacts
Primary ContactJacqui M Morarty, Occupational Therapist
Outcome results
None listed