A trial will test the efficacy of a therapy designed to mitigate the effects of a disabling post-stroke condition that affects around one in three survivors.
The study is being supported by £1.26m of funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s (NIHR) Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME) Programme.
The programme is a partnership between the NIHR and the Medical Research Council (MRC). The stroke rehabilitation study is being led by researchers at the University of East Anglia.
A stroke can affect the brain’s ability to interpret information and, in some cases, make the survivor lose attention to things on one side of their body.
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This means that, even if they have good eyesight, their brain does not process the information it’s getting from the impaired side. This results in the disabling cognitive condition spatial inattention or spatial neglect, for which there is currently no effective treatment.
People affected by it often have poor recovery and long-term disability. However, in earlier small trials, a therapy called ‘SIGHT’ (Spatial Inattention Grasping Therapy) showed promise in improving the condition.
Trial lead Dr Stephanie Rossit, from UEA’s School of Psychology, said: “There are 1.3 million stroke survivors in the UK, with an estimated 390,000 of those suffering from spatial inattention. The condition can be highly persistent with 40% of stroke survivors continuing to experience symptoms a year post-stroke.
“Currently there is no effective treatment for spatial inattention. This new trial is helping to fill the gap in the urgent search for successful treatments,” Dr Rossit added.
SIGHT requires those suffering from spatial neglect to grasp and balance rods with their less affected hand. Because of the condition, the rods tilt during the first attempts. However, feeling and seeing the rod tilt improves performance, which in turn increases attention to the impaired side.
The study will also explore why some people benefit more from therapy than others. To help identify who might benefit most, the trial will measure grasping, vision, cognition, stroke severity and brain structure and function.
The trial, which represents the largest ever trial involving people with post-stroke spatial neglect to date, will begin in January 2025 and runs until February 2028. It will see 206 stroke survivors with spatial inattention split into two groups.
One group will receive SIGHT and treatment as usual, while the other group will only receive treatment as usual. Neither the participant, nor the site research team, will be told which treatment they are given.
To compare the effect of the therapy, the team will assess patients’ ability to attend to objects, and to carry out daily life tasks before the therapy starts, after therapy, and three months after the end of therapy.
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