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Home telerehabilitation program to improve arm function after stroke

Telerehabilitation In The Home After Stroke: A Randomized, Controlled, Assessor-Blind Clinical Trial

NA · University of California, Los Angeles · NCT06682429

This program will see if adding six weeks of daily home telerehabilitation for arm exercises to usual care helps people with arm weakness 90–150 days after stroke improve arm function and reduce overall disability.

Quick facts

PhaseNA
Study typeInterventional
Enrollment202 (estimated)
Ages18 Years to 80 Years
SexAll
SponsorUniversity of California, Los Angeles (other)
Locations27 sites (Downey, California and 26 other locations)
Trial IDNCT06682429 on ClinicalTrials.gov

What this trial studies

This is a randomized, assessor-blinded study that assigns people with arm weakness after stroke to either home telerehabilitation plus usual care or to usual care alone, with the usual-care group offered telerehabilitation after the study. Telerehabilitation consists of 70 minutes per day of directed exercises, games, and stroke education, six days per week for about six weeks (36 sessions total). Study participation lasts about eight months and includes four in-person visits for clinical assessments and a single brain MRI, with blinded outcome testing of arm function and global disability. The primary goal is to compare recovery of arm function between the groups at scheduled follow-ups.

Who should consider this trial

Good fit: Ideal candidates are adults 18–80 with a radiologically confirmed ischemic or intracerebral hemorrhage stroke 90–150 days earlier who have persistent arm weakness (Action Research Arm Test 18–44 and ≥1 block on the Box & Block test) and can follow home-based exercises.

Not a fit: Patients who are outside the 90–150 day window, have very mild or very severe arm deficits outside the study range, have major active coexisting neurological/psychiatric/medical conditions, or are unable or unwilling to comply with home therapy are unlikely to benefit from this protocol.

Why it matters

Potential benefit: If successful, this could provide an effective, scalable at-home therapy to speed arm recovery and lower disability after stroke.

How similar studies have performed: Prior telerehabilitation trials for post-stroke arm recovery have shown feasibility and some modest functional gains, but large randomized results showing clear superiority over usual care remain limited.

Eligibility criteria

Show full inclusion / exclusion criteria 
Inclusion Criteria:

1. Age 18-80 years at the time of randomization
2. The index stroke was radiologically verified, due to ischemia or intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), and had time of onset 120±30 days prior to randomization
3. The stroke caused upper extremity deficits as defined by Action Research Arm Test score 18-44 (out of 57) at Baseline Visit 1
4. Box \& Block Test score with affected arm is ≥1 block in 60 seconds at Baseline Visit 1
5. Able to successfully perform all 3 rehabilitation exercise test examples (simple commands) at Baseline Visit 1
6. Informed consent and behavioral contract signed by the subject (i.e., no surrogate consent)

Exclusion Criteria:

1. A major, active, coexistent neurological, psychiatric, or medical disease that reduces the likelihood that a subject will be able to comply with all study procedures
2. Unable or unwilling to perform study procedures/therapy, or expectation of noncompliance with study procedures/therapy, or expectation that subject cannot participate in all study visits
3. A diagnosis (apart from the index stroke) that substantially affects paretic arm function
4. Severe depression, defined as Geriatric Depression Scale Score \>10/15 at Baseline Visit 1
5. Significant cognitive impairment, defined as Montreal Cognitive Assessment score \<22 \[a lower score is permitted if due to aphasia and allowed by the site PI\]
6. Deficits in communication that interfere with reasonable study participation
7. Severe UE spasticity, defined as presence of contracture or modified Ashworth Scale score=4 in either biceps or pectoralis
8. Modified Rankin Scale score was \>2 prior to the index stroke
9. A new symptomatic stroke has occurred since the index stroke, or a separate stroke occurred within 30 days prior to the index stroke
10. Lacking visual acuity, with or without corrective lens, of 20/50 or better in at least one eye
11. Life expectancy \< 9 months
12. Pregnant; women of child-bearing potential must have a negative pregnancy test
13. Botulinum toxin to the paretic arm: received in the prior 3 months OR expected by the 8-Month Visit
14. Concurrent enrollment in another therapy-based investigational study where the duration of the investigational therapy's activity is likely to occur during the subject's participation in the study
15. Subject lacks sufficient English or Spanish to comply with study procedures and TR instructions
16. Expectation that subject will not have a single domicile address during the 6 weeks of therapy that is within 1.5-hr drive of the central study site \[this can be waived at the discretion of the site PI\]
17. Contraindication to MRI
18. On isolation precautions, e.g., due to active COVID-19

Where this trial is running

Downey, California and 26 other locations

Study contacts

How to participate

  1. Review the eligibility criteria above with your treating physician.
  2. Visit the official trial page on ClinicalTrials.gov for the most current contact information and recruitment status.
  3. Contact the listed study coordinator or principal investigator to request pre-screening. Pre-screening is free and never obligates you to enroll.

View on ClinicalTrials.gov →

Conditions: Stroke, stroke, rehabilitation, telehealth

Last reviewed 2026-05-15 by the Find a Trial editorial team. Information on this page is for educational purposes and is not medical advice. Always consult qualified healthcare professionals about clinical trial participation.