The Effect of Therapeutic Climbing on Muscle Strength, Tone and Balance in Hemiplegic Children

The Effect of Therapeutic Climbing on Muscle Strength, Tone and Balance in Hemiplegic Children: a Preliminary Single-blind Randomised Controlled Trial

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT05983887

Enrollment

Registered

2023-08-09

Start date

2023-04-10

Completion date

2023-09-20

Last updated

2025-12-29

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Hemiplegia and Hemiparesis

Keywords

therapeutic climbing, hemiplegia, children, muscle strength, balance

Brief summary

The goal of this randomised controlled trial is to learn about the effect of therapeutic climbing in hemiplegic children. The main questions it aims to answer are: Does climbing affect muscle strength and tone? What is its connection between normative data drawn from healthy children? How can it affect balance? Participants (children) will be asked to complete an series of movements used in sports climbing, such as inside-flag, back-flag and horizontal traverse, while hanging on an in-door climbing wall.

Interventions

OTHERTherapeutic Climbing

The protocol consists of using an in-door climbing wall as an complementary therapeutic intervention model.

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)

Intervention model description

Single-blind Randomised Controlled Trial

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

4 Years to 16 Years

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* Children from 4 to 16 years old * Children with Hemiplegia * Evaluated as Level 1 on GMFCS

Exclusion criteria

* Botulinum toxin injection in last 6 months * Surgery in the last 1 year (myofascial lengthening etc.) * Children with poor cognitive skills (not following instructions etc.)

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Muscle Strength	8 weeks (pre-post evaluation)	Measured using Kinvent K-PUSH Dynamometer and Jamar Hydraulic Hand Dynamometer ; Unit of Measure: Peak Force in Kilograms (higher scores - better outcome)
Balance	8 weeks (pre-post evaluation)	Measured using the Timed Up & Go Test ; Unit of Measure: seconds of completion (higher scores - worse outcome)
Muscle Tone	8 weeks (pre-post evaluation)	Evaluated using the Modified Ashworth Scale ; Unit of Measure: Scoring Options (0-4) // (higher scores - worse outcome)

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Normative Strength Data Comparison	8 weeks (pre-post evaluation)	Comparison of normative values of the Jamar Hydraulic Hand Dynamometer of Healthy and Hemiplegic Children ; Unit of Measure: Difference of Peak Force in Kilograms

Countries

Greece

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026