Strengthening programme for ambulant adolescents with cerebral palsy
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Clinical effectiveness of an adolescent-specific strengthening programme, compared to usual care, for ambulant adolescents with spastic cerebral palsy (ROBUST trial): a parallel group randomised controlled trial
IRAS ID
325313
Contact name
Sally Hopewell
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Research Governance, Ethics and Assurance Team
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
OCTRU383, Clinical Trials Unit (CTU) Reference
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 2 months, 0 days
Research summary
Cerebral palsy (CP) is caused when babies suffer brain injury around birth from lack of oxygen in the brain. Children with CP develop stiff and weak muscles. They often have difficulty walking and moving and that makes it difficult for them to join in activities. Exercises prescribed by Physiotherapists become a big part of their lives as it tries to train their muscles and help them participate in activities. When they reach adolescence and their body grows, weakness of muscles in the legs becomes more of a problem. A programme of exercises to strengthen leg muscles could help them remain active. We are not certain young people with CP truly benefit from these exercises. We are also not sure if this exercise might cause too much discomfort and muscle soreness for long term use.
The aim of this study is to assess if an exercise programme to strengthen the muscles of young people with cerebral palsy is better than their usual physiotherapy treatment. We have developed an exercise programme, using resistance exercises, to strengthen leg muscles in adolescents with CP.
We will recruit adolescents with CP with the help of the established NHS network of physiotherapists who treat young people with CP in the community (CPIP). A computer will decide which half of the recruited adolescents will receive the new exercise programme. The other half will be offered advice from a physiotherapist to continue their usual fitness or physical activity programme. The strength exercise programme will last 4 months. At 6 and 12 months we will ask participants with their parent(s)/carer to complete a questionnaire about their walking and ability to carry out daily activities.
We hope results we produce will be adopted widely by health professionals and help policy makers develop national guidelines for physiotherapy treatment of adolescents with CP.REC name
South Central - Hampshire A Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/SC/0231
Date of REC Opinion
14 Jul 2023
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion