LEAPS Trial Has Randomized Over 150 Stroke Patients Into Study
Executive Summary
- Designed to investigate the effectiveness of rehabilitation interventions to improve walking in first year after stroke
- Largest rehabilitation research trial ever funded by NIH
- Brooks site has randomized 32 participants into training groups during first year
- 400 stroke survivors will be examined over three-and-a-half years
The Locomotor Experience Applied Post-Stroke or LEAPS team at Brooks has randomized nearly three dozen stroke patients into their trial. Nationally, as of October 2007, LEAPS has randomized a total of 154 patients.
LEAPS is the largest National Institute of Health (NIH) funded rehabilitation research trial of its kind. It is designed to investigate the effectiveness of rehabilitation interventions to improve walking in the first year after a stroke. The study compares a specialized locomotor training program with a home-based exercise program to improve walking velocity following stroke. The goal is to determine which is more effective in improving walking velocity one year post-stroke. The study also looks to determine the effect of timing of intervention (early versus late), severity of stroke (moderate versus severe), and duration of treatment (12, 24, 36 sessions).
The LEAPS team at Brooks continues to grow. New team members include: Frannie Westlake, PTA (research assistant and locomotor trainer), Molly Dunn, PT intervention therapist, Monty Henderson, PT in Georgia, Debra Gray, PT blinded assessor and Karey Ledbetter, PT blinded assessor.
LEAPS may soon be able to enroll patients from the community. Currently, in order to participate in LEAPS, a patient must have been admitted to Brooks Rehabilitation Hospital after their stroke. The new direct referral plan would mean that, in addition to recruiting from Brooks Inpatient Rehabilitation Hospital, the LEAPS team will be adding recruitment from the community. If approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB), LEAPS will be notifying physicians and rehabilitation personnel throughout the Jacksonville area regarding this new and exciting direct referral process.
For more information or general questions on the LEAPS trial, please contact the Clinical Research Coordinator, Dorian Rose, Ph.D., PT at (352) 273-5918 or by e-mail, drose@phhp.ufl.edu or Joann Gallicho, PT, site team leader, at (904) 306-8971 or joann.gallichio@brookshealth.org,