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NCT03666533Completed

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Post-stroke Gait Rehab

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Last updated 16 Sept 2025

Brief summary (registry, in English)

Stroke affects upwards of 800,000 Americans every year and has an enormous impact on the well-being of the American Veteran population with 6,000 new stroke admissions every year. Many of these stroke survivors are living with walking disabilities. Gait problems result in inability to function independently, high risk of falls and poor quality of life. Unfortunately, current gait rehabilitation treatments are limited and many stroke survivors do not achieve full recovery. Therefore, it is critical to develop new approaches to enhance gait rehabilitation methods. The investigators propose to evaluate a brain stimulation treatment called transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) that can be added to physical therapy. tDCS has been applied for arm rehabilitation after stroke with positive results, but gait-related investigations are lacking. The investigators will test whether simultaneous tDCS and gait training produces greater improvement in walking abilities than gait training alone. Adjunct tDCS therapy may improve outcomes, and reduce cost of both rehabilitation and post-stroke care.

Status (registry)
Completed
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
44 (actual)
First submitted
4 Sept 2018
Start date
13 Sept 2018
Primary completion date
29 Mar 2024
Lead sponsor
VA Office of Research and Development
Diseases
Stroke
NCT number
NCT03666533

What you commit to

  • Study type: Interventional
  • Participants enrolled: 44
  • From 13 Sept 2018 to the primary completion date, 29 Mar 2024
  • 1 site in 1 country
  • Visits and tests: ask the trial team, the registry does not list them

Built from the registry fields of ClinicalTrials.gov. It describes the study, not your situation.

Who cannot take part

Copied verbatim from ClinicalTrials.gov and grouped by topic. Only the trial team decides who can take part.

Other illness

  • Stroke affecting both sides

Other

  • Activity tolerance is insufficient to complete treadmill training
  • Inability to produce a trace contraction of ankle dorsiflexors in synergy
  • Normal ankle dorsiflexion/knee flexion on FMLE standing items (FMLE item IV score=4)
  • Contraindications for rTMS according to the most recent TMS-use guidelines
  • Contraindications for MRI
  • Inability to understand English

Who the study is looking for

  • Medically and psychologically stable and at least 6 months after first ever unilateral stroke
  • Cognition sufficiently intact to give valid informed consent to participate
  • FMLE score \>15; and ability to actively dorsiflex the paretic ankle in synergy (FMLE item II Flexor synergy-ankle dorsiflexion score 1).
  • Sufficient endurance to participate in the study

Age in the registry: 18 years to - · Sex: All · Does not accept healthy volunteers

Full criteria on ClinicalTrials.gov

Sites (1)

Sites in registry order. Pick your city on the disease page to sort them by distance.

SiteCityCountrySite status
Louis Stokes VA Medical Center, Cleveland, OH
Coordinator of this site? Confirm its status
ClevelandUnited StatesUnknown status

This page is information, not medical advice. Discuss any trial with your doctor.