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StrokeNCT06621771

Playing Piano to Improve Hand Function Early After Stroke

A study testing Music intervention and Occupational Therapy in people with Stroke, run by McGill University at 1 site in Canada.

Recruiting

Looking for participants now. Contact the study team or a site below to ask about taking part.

Sites and contacts
Official record
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Trial summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to study the feasibility of a 6-week piano playing training intervention in a subacute stroke population. More specifically, the investigators aim to (1) implement and test the feasibility of the intervention in the subacute stroke rehabilitation program; and (2) explore the… Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 40 to 74 years
Conditions the study is for
Stroke
What is being tested?
Music intervention and Occupational Therapy
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
30 participants
Where
1 siteCanada
Study dates
15 Oct 2024to 30 Dec 2027
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
Not yet: the study is under way

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 40 to 74 years
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Have normal/corrected visual and auditory acuity
  • Present a first-ever supratentorial unilateral stroke (1-24 weeks post-stroke)
  • Present some capacity of dissociation of arm and finger movements, as reflected by scores of 3 to 6 on the arm and hand components of the Chedoke McMaster Stroke Assessment
  • Have the capacity to follow simple instructions
  • Have no professional piano experience (only for the piano group)

Who cannot join

  • Presence of visual field defect, hemineglect as well as dementia or moderate-to-severe cognitive deficits (score less than 18 on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment).

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.

Canada1 site, 1 recruiting
  • Jewish Rehabilitation Hospital

    Laval, Quebec, H7V1R2

    Anouk Lamontagne, PhD, 450-688-9550 ext. 84168, anouk.lamontagne@mcgill.ca

    Vira Rose, 450-688-9550 ext. 84300, vrose_hjr@ssss.gouv.qc.ca

    Recruiting

Other trials in Canada

About this study

Official title: A Piano Training Program to Improve Manual Dexterity and Upper Extremity Function in Subacute Stroke Survivors

The goal of this clinical trial is to study the feasibility of a 6-week piano playing training intervention in a subacute stroke population. More specifically, the investigators aim to (1) implement and test the feasibility of the intervention in the subacute stroke rehabilitation program; and (2) explore the acceptability of the supervised training sessions and home practice sessions. Researchers will also (3) estimate and contrast the effects of the piano training intervention as compared to conventional therapy on manual dexterity, coordination, functional use of the upper extremity, attention and mood.

Therapy specifically provided as part of this project will be delivered above and beyond usual therapy time in both intervention groups. Participants of the piano group will:

Read more
  • Engage in a step-by-step musical training consisting of two supervised, individual 45-min sessions per week for 6 consecutive weeks, for a total of 12 sessions.
  • The supervised session will also be complemented with a biweekly home program (15 minutes) consisting of piano exercises.

Participants in the conventional group will:

  • Engage in two individual 45-min sessions per week for 6 consecutive weeks consisting in conventional occupational therapy treatment.
  • They will also receive a biweekly home program consisting in occupational therapy exercises (15 minutes).
Read the detailed description

Piano Training: Musical pieces are designed to involve all 5 digits of the paretic hand. Whether played with the right or left hand, they involve the same number of finger repetitions as well as similar finger sequences and melodic patterns. A Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) piano program called Synthesia will be used to display musical pieces on a computer screen that is adapted for people with no music reading abilities. Participants will be cued to press a sequence of key presses required to produce a melody by a visual display showing a blue dot falling from the upper part of the screen down to indicate the correct key on a virtual keyboard. After each cue, the program will pause until the participant pressed the correct key before moving on. During the supervised training sessions, participants will play on a touch sensitive piano keyboard. A computer will record the responses from the piano keyboard and provided a final score indicating the number of errors and total duration for each musical piece. A professional therapist will be present during these supervised sessions and will provide verbal feedback on the quality of movement and discouraged compensatory strategies. Nine musical pieces will be introduced to the participants in an order of increasing difficulty: level 1 involving movements of consecutive fingers (e.g.,1-2-3-4-5); level 2 involving third, fourth, and fifth intervals or movements of non-consecutive fingers (e.g., 1-3-5-1-4); and level 3 involving chords, that is 2 fingers played at the same time. Within each level, 3 musical pieces involving an increasing number of key presses and changes in melodic direction will be introduced. The speed of execution or tempo will also increase within each musical piece.

Conventional Intervention: Conventional sessions will consist of usual occupational therapy treatment (e.g., mobility, ADL, IALD, information session), excluding treatments focusing specifically on arm and hand motor recovery. The nature therapy provided as part of the conventional intervention will be carefully documents in the chart.

Home Practice: All participants in the piano group will receive an unsupervised home program consisting of piano sequence exercises comprising short excerpts of the same musical pieces practiced during the supervised sessions and they will receive a roll-up flexible piano. Participants in the conventional group will receive assignments related to occupational therapy exercises and/or IALD/ADLs. All participants will report on their practice duration and content in a logbook after each practice session.

Conditions
Stroke
Being tested
Music intervention, Occupational Therapy
Keywords
Music therapy, Rehabilitation, Intervention, Upper extremity, dexterity
Medical subject headings
Stroke

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Music interventionOther

    Participants will engage in a step-by-step piano training consisting in playing piano pieces designed to involve all 5 digits of the paretic hand and increasing in complexity. They will be using a Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) piano program called Synthesia to display musical pieces on a computer screen that is adapted for people with no music reading abilities and will be playing on a touch sensitive piano keyboard. The supervised session will also be complemented with a unsupervised home program consisting of piano sequence exercises comprising short excerpts of the same musical pieces practiced during the supervised sessions and they will receive a roll-up flexible piano

  • Occupational TherapyOther

    Participants will receive conventional occupational therapy treatment (e.g., mobility, ADL, IALD, information session), excluding treatments focusing specifically on arm and hand motor recovery.The supervised session will also be complemented with an unsupervised home program consisting of assignments related to occupational therapy exercises and/or IALD/ADLs.

Study groups in NCT06621771
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Piano groupExperimentalParticipants will engage in a step-by-step musical training consisting of two supervised, individual 45-min sessions per week for 6 consecutive weeks, for a total of 12 sessions. They will also be asked to practice 2x/week for 15 minutes and they will report on their practice duration and content in a logbook after each practice session.
Receives: Other: Music intervention
Conventional groupActive comparatorParticipants will engage in two supervised and individual 45-min session per week for 6 consecutive week, consisting in usual occupational therapy treatment. They will be asked to practice 2x/week for 15 minutes and they will report on their practice duration and content in a logbook after each practice session.
Receives: Other: Occupational Therapy

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Feasibility: Characteristics of stroke participants

    Collected via chart review (e.g. CPA vs. outpatient program, age, sex/gender, stroke characteristics, upper extremity function level, cognitive function)

    Measured: Pre-intervention (week0)

  2. Feasibility: Number of eligible vs. referred participants

    Assessed using the number of participants referred to the study in comparison to the list of admitted patients in the targeted stroke programs.

    Measured: Post-intervention (week6)

  3. Feasibility: adherence to intervention - number of completed sessions

    Training logbook filled by researchers/clinicians (supervised sessions) and subjects (unsupervised sessions).

    Measured: Post-intervention (week6)

  4. Feasibility: adherence to intervention - number of piano pieces completed (piano group) vs occupational therapy exercises completed (conventional group)

    Training logbook filled by researchers/clinicians (supervised sessions) and subjects (unsupervised sessions).

    Measured: Post-intervention (week6)

  5. Feasibility: adherence to intervention - number of home practice sessions

    Training logbook filled by researchers/clinicians (supervised sessions) and subjects (unsupervised sessions).

    Measured: Post-intervention (week6)

  6. Feasibility: adherence to intervention - time of home practice sessions

    Training logbook filled by researchers/clinicians (supervised sessions) and subjects (unsupervised sessions).

    Measured: Post-intervention (week6)

  7. Feasibility: presence of adverse or undesirable effects during the intervention

    Collected with open-ended questions.

    Measured: Post-Intervention (week6)

  8. Acceptability of the intervention

    Participant's comments and observations collected using the Theoretical Framework of Acceptability (TFA) Questionnaire, which considers different dimensions such as affective attitude, perceived effectiveness, ethicality and opportunity cost. It comprises 8 items rated from 1 to 5. Minimum value is 8 and maximum value is 40. A higher score is associated with better outcomes.

    Measured: Post-intervention (week6)

  9. Acceptability: Overall experience

    Investigated through open-ended questions

    Measured: Post-intervention (week6)

Secondary outcomes (8)
  1. Change from Baseline in the Box and Block test at Post-intervention

    Assess gross manual dexterity

    Measured: Post-intervention (week6) and Follow-up (week12)

  2. Change from Baseline in the Nine Hole Peg Test (NHPT) at Post-intervention

    Assesses fine manual dexterity

    Measured: Post-intervention (week6) and Follow-up (week12)

  3. Change from Baseline in the Finger to Nose test at Post-intervention

    Assesses arm movement coordination.

    Measured: Post-Intervention (week6) and Follow-up (week12)

  4. Change from Baseline in the Finger Tapping test at Post-intervention

    Assesses finger movement coordination.

    Measured: Post-intervention (week6) and Follow-up (week12)

  5. Change from Baseline in the 6-items Jebsen Hand Function test at Post-intervention

    Assesses functional use of the upper extremity.

    Measured: Post-intervention (week6) and Follow-up (week12)

  6. Change from Baseline in the Digit Span Test - Forward at Post-intervention

    A subtest of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV) that assesses attention, more specifically auditory recall and working memory. Score is calculates as the longest number of forward sequential digits that can accurately be remembered. The maximum score is 16. A higher score is associated with better outcomes.

    Measured: Post-intervention (week6) and Follow-up (week12)

  7. Change from Baseline in the Digit Span Test - Backward at Post-intervention

    A subtest of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV) that assesses attention, more specifically auditory recall and working memory. Score is calculates as the longest number of backward sequential digits that can accurately be remembered. The maximum score is 16. A higher score is associated with better outcomes.

    Measured: Post-intervention (week6) and Follow-up (week12)

  8. Change from Baseline in the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale at Post-intervention

    A self-administered test assessing mood, more specifically screening for depression and anxiety. It comprises 14 items rated from 0 to 3. Seven questions relate to anxiety and seven to depression, giving two scores (maximum score for each = 21). A higher score is associated with worse outcomes.

    Measured: Post-intervention (week6) and Follow-up (week12)

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted1 Oct 2024
  2. Study start15 Oct 2024
  3. Primary completion1 May 2027 (estimated)
  4. Study completion30 Dec 2027 (estimated)

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Parallel groups
Model description
Experimental study involving a repeated-measure designed of two groups of participants with stroke, i.e., those receiving piano training sessions and those receiving additional conventional occupational therapy sessions.
Masking
Single blind
Who is masked
Outcomes assessor
Enrolment
30 participants (estimated)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT06621771
Sponsor's protocol ID
MP-50-2024-2096
Status last verified
Sep 2026
First submitted
25 Sep 2024
Last updated
7 Oct 2026
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
Individual data sharing
Yes: De-identified individual participant data for all primary and secondary outcome measures will be made available.

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Music intervention and Occupational Therapy in people with Stroke, run by McGill University at 1 site in Canada.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 5 inclusion and 1 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: looking for participants now, as of the sponsor's last update on 7 Oct 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in Canada. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

Contact Anouk Lamontagne, PhD (450-688-9550 ext. 84168, anouk.lamontagne@mcgill.ca), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Feasibility: Characteristics of stroke participants (time frame: Pre-intervention (week0)). The study lists 9 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 7 Oct 2026.

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