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CompletedNCT03002285Updated Dec 23, 2016

Fitts Law in People With Cerebral Palsy

An interventional study of Cerebral Palsy group and Control group in Cerebral Palsy, sponsored by University of Sao Paulo. Completed. Open to participants aged 7 Years to 30 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2016-12-23.

Sponsored by University of Sao Paulo · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
96
Allocation
Non-randomized
Ages
7 Years to 30 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Introduction: Cerebral palsy (CP) is a non-progressive disorder in the brain which makes the control and execution of movements difficult. One of the possible ways to analyze motor control in these individuals could be through analysis of movement speed and accuracy. Objective: To verify the speed-accuracy trade-off in individuals with CP. Method: 96 individuals were evaluated, 48 with CP and 48 with typical development (TD), matched by age and sex. The software used was the "Fitts' Reciprocal Aiming Task v.1.0 (Horizontal)", performed on a computer using an external optical mouse, with progressive indices of difficulty (IDs): ID2, ID4a and ID4b. Each index of difficulty was performed three times and the total time/touches captured.

Read the detailed description

The software used in this study was "Fitts' Reciprocal Aiming Task v.1.0 (Horizontal)" developed by Okazaki, in the public domain and available on the Internet, which was performed on a Toshiba notebook®, model Satellite A60-S1561 System Unit, with the use of an external optical mouse, Fortrek® OM-302.

This instrument can be used to verify motor control through analysis of the speed and accuracy of movement, which can be determined through the log-linear relation between movement time and task difficulty using a mathematical equation, and analyzed by Fitts' law, which describes the relation between movement accuracy and speed, associated with target size and distance11. Thus, the task used in this study was composed of targets of different sizes, being that the smaller targets require more time to execute due to the necessity of increased accuracy and, if the distance between targets reduces, the speed of movement becomes greater and the accuracy decreases.

In relation to target size (W) and distance between targets (D), the equation log2 (2D/W) results in an index of difficulty (ID), where the higher the ID, the more difficult the task, a fact that necessitates greater movement time.

To evaluate the speed and accuracy, two different indices of difficulty were used in this study (ID2 and ID4). The difficulty level was increased by changing the width and distance between the bars. In addition, ID4 was used in two different ways (ID4a and ID4b), for which the distance between the bars and the width were different, but the ID was maintained.

3 Procedure and design The experiment was composed of three trials at each of the two IDs: 2 and 4 (ID 4 had two kinds of measurement - ID4a and ID4b), and the participants performed the tasks individually in a room, with only the evaluator present, seated on a chair (or their own wheelchair), which was adjusted in height according to the needs of the individual. A footrest was available, when necessary. The computer was placed on a table, and each participant was given instructions and presented with the task, in which the individual, after hearing an alarm from the computer, was required to click with an external mouse cursor on two parallel bars which were arranged vertically, intermittently, with the greatest speed and accuracy possible, for a period of 10 seconds, followed by a second alarm which indicated the end of the attempt.

Directly following the attempt, the total movement time was registered, by dividing the seconds obtained in each attempt by the number of "clicks" on targets. If more than two clicks were wrong, the individual repeated the task.

Procedure and design The experiment was composed of three trials at each of the two IDs: 2 and 4 (ID 4 had two kinds of measurement - ID4a and ID4b), and the participants performed the tasks individually in a room, with only the evaluator present, seated on a chair (or their own wheelchair), which was adjusted in height according to the needs of the individual. A footrest was available, when necessary. The computer was placed on a table, and each participant was given instructions and presented with the task, in which the individual, after hearing an alarm from the computer, was required to click with an external mouse cursor on two parallel bars which were arranged vertically, intermittently, with the greatest speed and accuracy possible, for a period of 10 seconds, followed by a second alarm which indicated the end of the attempt.

Directly following the attempt, the total movement time was registered, by dividing the seconds obtained in each attempt by the number of "clicks" on targets. If more than two clicks were wrong, the individual repeated the task.

02

Conditions studied

  • Cerebral Palsy

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03

In context

Cerebral Palsy

1,853 studies on the registry are indexed under Cerebral Palsy; 435 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 96 is above the median of 33 across 1,368 interventional studies indexed under Cerebral Palsy.

Browse Cerebral Palsy studies →

Lead sponsor

University of Sao Paulo is the lead sponsor of 1,005 studies on the registry; 90 are open to participants now.

Of its 7 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 0 (0%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
7 Years to 30 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

  • medical diagnosis of CP;
  • levels I to IV according to the GMFCS;
  • levels I to III according to MACS.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • presence of surgery or a chemical neuromuscular blockade in the upper limbs within six months prior to participation in the study;
  • lack of comprehension of the experimental instructions.
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Non-randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
96 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Cerebral Palsy group

    Group with Cerebral Palsy that performed the Fitts law in a computer task

    Behavioral: Cerebral Palsy group

  • Active comparator
    Control group

    Group with typical development that performed the Fitts law in a computer task

    Behavioral: Control group

Interventions

  • BehavioralCerebral Palsy group

    Group with Cerebral Palsy that performed the Fitts law in a computer task

  • BehavioralControl group

    Group with typical development that performed the Fitts law in a computer task

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Motor control test by using a fitts law task in computational task

    Time frame: one day

07

Study locations

No study locations are listed for this record.

08

References and documents

Publications

  • Fernani DCGL, Prado MTA, da Silva TD, Massetti T, de Abreu LC, Magalhaes FH, Dawes H, de Mello Monteiro CB. Evaluation of speed-accuracy trade-off in a computer task in individuals with cerebral palsy: a cross-sectional study. BMC Neurol. 2017 Jul 27;17(1):143. doi: 10.1186/s12883-017-0920-4. PubMed 28750603 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Undecided

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Dec 23, 2016, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03002285
Lead sponsor
University of Sao Paulo
Responsible party
Carlos Bandeira de Mello Monteiro (Associate Professor, University of Sao Paulo) — Principal investigator
First posted
Dec 23, 2016
Start date
Jan 2016
Primary completion
Aug 2016
Completion
Nov 2016
Last update
Dec 23, 2016

Study contacts

Carlos BM Monteiro, Ph.D.
principal investigator · University of Sao Paulo

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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