• Liam Johnson, Marie-Louise Bird, Makii Muthalib, and Wei-Peng Teo.
• Stroke Division, The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia.
• BMJ Open. 2018 Jan 9; 8 (1): e018388.

IntroductionThe STRoke Interactive Virtual thErapy (STRIVE) intervention provides community-dwelling stroke survivors access to individualised, remotely supervised progressive exercise training via an online platform. This trial aims to determine the clinical efficacy of the STRIVE intervention and its effect on brain activity in community-dwelling stroke survivors.Methods And AnalysisIn a multisite, assessor-blinded randomised controlled trial, 60 stroke survivors >3 months poststroke with mild-to-moderate upper extremity impairment will be recruited and equally randomised by location (Melbourne, Victoria or Launceston, Tasmania) to receive 8 weeks of virtual therapy (VT) at a local exercise training facility or usual care. Participants allocated to VT will perform 3-5 upper limb exercises individualised to their impairment severity and preference, while participants allocated to usual care will be asked to maintain their usual daily activities. The primary outcome measures will be upper limb motor function and impairment, which will be assessed using the Action Research Arm Test and Upper Extremity Fugl-Meyer, respectively. Secondary outcome measures include upper extremity function and spasticity, as measured by the box and block test and Modified AshworthScale, respectively, and task-related changes in bilateral sensorimotor cortex haemodynamics during hand reaching and wrist extension movements as measured by functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Quality of life will be measured using the Euro-Quality of Life-5 Dimension-5 Level Scale, and the Motor Activity Log-28 will be used to measure use of the hemiparetic arm. All measures will be assessed at baseline and immediately postintervention.Ethics And DisseminationThe study was approved by the Deakin University Human Research Ethics Committee in May 2017 (No. 2017-087). The results will be disseminated in peer-reviewed journals and presented at major international stroke meetings.Trial Registration NumberACTRN12617000745347; Pre-results.© Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

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