Sarah C Milne, Melissa Roberts, Shannon Williams, Jillian Chua, Alison C Grootendorst, Genevieve Agostinelli, Anneke C Grobler, Hannah L Ross, Amy Robinson, Kristen Grove, Gabrielle Modderman, Annabel Price, Megan Thomson, Libby Massey, Christina Liang, Kishore R Kumar, Kim Dalziel, Joshua Burns, Carolyn M Sue, Pubudu N Pathirana, Malcolm Horne, Nikki Gelfard, Helen Curd, David Szmulewicz, Louise A Corben, Martin B Delatycki
Objective: Rehabilitation is thought to reduce ataxia severity in individuals with hereditary cerebellar ataxia (HCA). This multicenter, randomized controlled superiority trial aimed to examine the efficacy of a 30-week goal-directed rehabilitation program compared with 30 weeks of standard care on function, ataxia, health-related quality of life, and balance in individuals with an HCA.
Methods: Individuals with an autosomal dominant or recessive ataxia (aged ≥15 years) were enrolled at 5 sites in Australia. Participants were randomized (1:1) to receive rehabilitation (6 weeks of outpatient physiotherapy followed by a 24-week home exercise program) (n = 39) or continued their usual activity (n = 37). The primary outcome measure was the motor domain of the Functional Independence Measure (mFIM) at 7 weeks. Secondary outcomes included the Scale for the Assessment and Rating of Ataxia (SARA) and the SF-36v2, assessed at 7, 18, and 30 weeks. Outcome assessors were blinded to treatment allocation.
Results: Seventy-one participants (rehabilitation, 37; standard-care, 34) were included in the intention-to-treat analysis. At 7 weeks, mFIM (mean difference 2.26, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.26 to 4.26, p = 0.028) and SARA (-1.21, 95% CI: -2.32 to -0.11, p = 0.032) scores improved after rehabilitation compared with standard care. Compared with standard care, rehabilitation improved SARA scores at 30 weeks (mean difference -1.51, 95% CI: -2.76 to -0.27, p = 0.017), but not mFIM scores (1.74, 95% CI: -0.32 to 3.81, p = 0.098). Frequent adverse events in both groups were fatigue, pain, and falls.
Interpretation: Goal-directed rehabilitation improved function at 7 weeks, with improvement in ataxia and health-related quality of life maintained at 30 weeks in individuals with HCA, beyond that of standard care. ANN NEUROL 2024.
{"title":"Goal-Directed Rehabilitation Versus Standard Care for Individuals with Hereditary Cerebellar Ataxia: A Multicenter, Single-Blind, Randomized Controlled Superiority Trial.","authors":"Sarah C Milne, Melissa Roberts, Shannon Williams, Jillian Chua, Alison C Grootendorst, Genevieve Agostinelli, Anneke C Grobler, Hannah L Ross, Amy Robinson, Kristen Grove, Gabrielle Modderman, Annabel Price, Megan Thomson, Libby Massey, Christina Liang, Kishore R Kumar, Kim Dalziel, Joshua Burns, Carolyn M Sue, Pubudu N Pathirana, Malcolm Horne, Nikki Gelfard, Helen Curd, David Szmulewicz, Louise A Corben, Martin B Delatycki","doi":"10.1002/ana.27130","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.27130","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>Rehabilitation is thought to reduce ataxia severity in individuals with hereditary cerebellar ataxia (HCA). This multicenter, randomized controlled superiority trial aimed to examine the efficacy of a 30-week goal-directed rehabilitation program compared with 30 weeks of standard care on function, ataxia, health-related quality of life, and balance in individuals with an HCA.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Individuals with an autosomal dominant or recessive ataxia (aged ≥15 years) were enrolled at 5 sites in Australia. Participants were randomized (1:1) to receive rehabilitation (6 weeks of outpatient physiotherapy followed by a 24-week home exercise program) (n = 39) or continued their usual activity (n = 37). The primary outcome measure was the motor domain of the Functional Independence Measure (mFIM) at 7 weeks. Secondary outcomes included the Scale for the Assessment and Rating of Ataxia (SARA) and the SF-36v2, assessed at 7, 18, and 30 weeks. Outcome assessors were blinded to treatment allocation.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Seventy-one participants (rehabilitation, 37; standard-care, 34) were included in the intention-to-treat analysis. At 7 weeks, mFIM (mean difference 2.26, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.26 to 4.26, p = 0.028) and SARA (-1.21, 95% CI: -2.32 to -0.11, p = 0.032) scores improved after rehabilitation compared with standard care. Compared with standard care, rehabilitation improved SARA scores at 30 weeks (mean difference -1.51, 95% CI: -2.76 to -0.27, p = 0.017), but not mFIM scores (1.74, 95% CI: -0.32 to 3.81, p = 0.098). Frequent adverse events in both groups were fatigue, pain, and falls.</p><p><strong>Interpretation: </strong>Goal-directed rehabilitation improved function at 7 weeks, with improvement in ataxia and health-related quality of life maintained at 30 weeks in individuals with HCA, beyond that of standard care. ANN NEUROL 2024.</p>","PeriodicalId":127,"journal":{"name":"Annals of Neurology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2024-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142613159","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Annals of Neurology: Volume 96, Number S33, November 2024","authors":"","doi":"10.1002/ana.27085","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.27085","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":127,"journal":{"name":"Annals of Neurology","volume":"96 S33","pages":"C1"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2024-11-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ana.27085","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142664607","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}