Feasibility and cost description of highly intensive rehabilitation involving new technologies in patients with post-acute stroke—a trial of the Swiss RehabTech Initiative

BACKGROUND: There is a need to provide highly repetitive and intensive therapy programs for patients after stroke to improve sensorimotor impairment. The employment of technology-assisted training may facilitate access to individualized rehabilitation of high intensity. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and acceptance of a high-intensity technology-assisted training for patients after stroke in the subacute or chronic phase and to establish its feasibility for a subsequent randomized controlled trial. METHODS: A longitudinal, multi-center, single-group study was conducted in four rehabilitation clinics. Patients participated in a high-intensity 4-week technology-assisted trainings consisting of 3 to 5 training days per week and at least 5 training sessions per day with a duration of 45 min each. Feasibility was evaluated by examining recruitment, intervention-related outcomes (adherence, subjectively perceived effort and effectiveness, adverse events), patient-related outcomes, and efficiency gains. Secondary outcomes focused on all three domains of the International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health. Data were analyzed and presented in a descriptive manner. RESULTS: In total, 14 patients after stroke were included. Participants exercised between 12 and 21 days and received between 28 and 82 (mean 46 ± 15) technology-assisted trainings during the study period, which corresponded to 2 to 7 daily interventions. Treatment was safe. No serious adverse events were reported. Minor adverse events were related to tiredness and exertion. From baseline to the end of the intervention, patients improved in several functional performance assessments of the upper and lower extremities. The efficiency gains of the trainings amounted to 10% to 58%, in particular for training of the whole body and for walking training in severely impaired patients. CONCLUSIONS: Highly intensive technology-assisted training appears to be feasible for in- and outpatients in the subacute or chronic phase after stroke. Further clinical trials are warranted in order to define the most comprehensive approach to highly intensive technology-assisted training and to investigate its efficacy in patients with neurological disorders. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03641651 at August 31st 2018