Health-GIS Platform for Hip Replacement Rehabilitation Coordination

March 9, 2026 updated by: Didar Khassenov, Tulip Medicine

Effectiveness of a Geographic Information System-Integrated Mobile Platform for Coordinating Early Stage Rehabilitation After Total Hip Arthroplasty: A Randomized Controlled Trial

This study tests whether a mobile phone app with mapping technology can help patients find rehabilitation services faster after hip replacement surgery. After having their hip replaced, patients typically need several months of physical therapy to recover fully. However, many patients face long waiting times or don't know where to find rehabilitation services near them.

In this study, half of the patients will use a new mobile app that shows rehabilitation centers on a map, displays available appointment times, and allows patients to compare services and costs. The other half will receive standard care, where they must contact their family doctor to help find rehabilitation services.

The study will measure how quickly patients start rehabilitation after leaving the hospital, how well their hip functions after treatment, their quality of life, and pain levels. The investigators will also look at whether the app is easy to use.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Total hip arthroplasty (hip replacement) is one of the most successful surgical procedures in modern orthopedics, with over 528 million people worldwide affected by osteoarthritis requiring joint replacement. The demand is projected to increase dramatically: 71% growth in the US by 2030 (635,000 procedures), 198% growth in Australia by 2046 (94,086 procedures), and 99-147% growth in Japan by 2030 depending on demographic groups.

Success of hip replacement surgery largely depends on timely access to rehabilitation services, particularly during the early recovery period (first 3-6 months post-surgery). Current medical rehabilitation principles emphasize early initiation, continuity, and seamless care coordination to optimize clinical outcomes. However, healthcare systems worldwide face significant challenges in organizing effective rehabilitation services.

The primary objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of implementing a GIS-integrated rehabilitation coordination platform for organizing early-stage rehabilitation after total hip arthroplasty. The investigators hypothesize that using a specialized mobile application with integrated GIS components will eliminate information gaps, ensure equitable patient flow distribution among medical organizations, reduce time from surgical discharge to second-stage rehabilitation initiation, and consequently improve functional treatment outcomes while enhancing healthcare system resource utilization efficiency.

After discharge from surgical hospitals, patients often encounter an information vacuum regarding available rehabilitation services. Primary care physicians typically have limited knowledge of regional rehabilitation centers, severely restricting patient routing options. This leads to systematic violations of key rehabilitation principles - early initiation and continuity of care - negatively impacting surgical outcomes.

Kazakhstan's healthcare system exemplifies these challenges, with critical imbalances between rehabilitation service demand and supply. Leading national centers performing thousands of hip replacements annually can provide rehabilitation to only a small fraction of patients, creating waiting lists extending several months. This disproportion generates systematic risks and healthcare delivery violations, with over 5.9 million healthcare delivery defects identified in 2024, including inappropriate service volume increases, unjustified medical care provision, and deviations from clinical protocols.

Healthcare digitalization offers innovative solutions to these systemic problems. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have been successfully applied in various medical fields for analyzing spatial distribution of medical resources, optimizing patient routing, and improving service accessibility. A rehabilitation coordination platform with integrated GIS components could fundamentally transform rehabilitation service organization by providing transparency regarding available services, real facility capacity, and care accessibility.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
142

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Kazakhstan
      • Astana, Kazakhstan, 010000
        • NCJSC "Astana Medical University"

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age ≥18 years
  • Completed primary total hip arthroplasty within the past 7 days
  • Ability to understand study procedures and provide signed informed consent
  • Fluency in Russian or Kazakh language
  • Access to smartphone or tablet device with internet connectivity

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Severe cognitive impairment
  • Participation in another clinical trial that might interfere with study outcomes
  • Intraoperative or postoperative complications requiring extended hospitalization after total hip arthroplasty
  • Medical contraindications to rehabilitation
  • Planned total hip arthroplasty within 12 months
  • Severe visual impairments preventing mobile application usage
  • Patients who declined to participate after being informed about the study protocol

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: GIS-Guided Rehabilitation App
Patients receive access to a specialized mobile application with integrated Geographic Information System (GIS) components for rehabilitation service coordination after total hip arthroplasty.
Device: Health-GIS Rehabilitation Coordination Platform
Participants receive access to a specialized mobile application with integrated Geographic Information System (GIS) components for rehabilitation service coordination. While hospitalized, patients submit rehabilitation requests through the platform, indicating their location, desired time, and specific rehabilitation needs. Registered rehabilitation centers within the platform receive these requests and can submit counter-proposals with available slots, services offered, and estimated costs. The platform provides real-time visualization of available rehabilitation facilities on an interactive map, displays facility ratings, services offered, current capacity, and waiting times. Patients receive automated notifications about new proposals and can compare options based on location proximity, service quality ratings, and availability. Technical support is available through in-app messaging and a dedicated helpline during business hours.
Active Comparator: Standard Primary Care Referral
Patients receive standard rehabilitation referral process through primary care physicians after total hip arthroplasty
Other: Standard Rehabilitation Referral
Upon discharge, patients receive written recommendations stating that rehabilitation is advised as part of their post-operative care plan. No specific rehabilitation facilities are recommended or contacts provided by the surgical team. Patients are instructed to contact their assigned primary care physician (general practitioner) at their local polyclinic for further referral coordination. The primary care physician is responsible for identifying available rehabilitation facilities, making referrals, and coordinating the rehabilitation timeline based on their knowledge of local resources and current availability. This intervention represents routine clinical practice typically provided to patients after total hip arthroplasty.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Time to Rehabilitation Initiation
Time Frame: 12 months from enrollment
Time from discharge from surgical hospital to initiation of second-stage rehabilitation services, measured in days
12 months from enrollment
SF-12 Quality of Life Score
Time Frame: Baseline, 6 months, and 12 months from enrollment
12-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12) Physical Component Summary (PCS): 0-100 Mental Component Summary (MCS): 0-100 Higher scores indicate better quality of life and better health status.
Baseline, 6 months, and 12 months from enrollment

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Visual Analog Scale (VAS) Pain Score
Time Frame: Baseline, 6 weeks, 6 months, and 12 months from enrollment
Pain intensity assessment using a 0-10 scale where 0 represents no pain and 10 represents maximum possible pain.
Baseline, 6 weeks, 6 months, and 12 months from enrollment
Quality-Adjusted Life Years (QALY)
Time Frame: 12 months from enrollment
Health utility measured using SF-6D utility scores derived from SF-12 questionnaire, calculated using the area under the curve method over the 12-month study period The QALY score will range from 0 to 1. A higher QALY score represents a better overall health outcome over the 12-month period, indicating more time spent in a better state of health.
12 months from enrollment
Harris Hip Score
Time Frame: Baseline, 6 weeks, 6 months, and 12 months from enrollment
Functional outcome assessment measuring hip joint function, pain, and mobility. The scale ranges from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating better hip function and less disability.
Baseline, 6 weeks, 6 months, and 12 months from enrollment
System Usability Scale (SUS) Score
Time Frame: 3 months and 6 months from enrollment
Usability assessment of the Health-GIS platform for both patients and healthcare facilities. The scale ranges from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating better usability and user satisfaction.
3 months and 6 months from enrollment

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Tulip Medicine

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
November 28, 2024

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
December 19, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
December 19, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
September 23, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
September 23, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
October 1, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
March 10, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
March 9, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • NROC 4

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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