The Hand Osteoarthritis Exercise Trial

Osteoarthritis Care in Primary Health: Hand Exercises and Telephone Counselling for Hand OA - a Randomized Controlled Trial

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of a hand exercise intervention on function and osteoarthritis symptoms in persons with hand osteoarthritis .

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Hand Osteoarthritis
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Hand exercise program

Detailed Description

Hand osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most prevalent musculoskeletal diseases in an adult population. The disease may have large influences on an individual's function, health related quality of life and participation in the society. In recently published clinical guidelines for management, non-pharmacological approaches are considered as core treatments.

Several studies have demonstrated that exercise may reduce pain and improve function in persons with knee OA, and a similar effect is suggested for hip OA. Regarding effect of exercises in hand OA, available research results are limited, and randomised controlled trials (RCT) of good quality are needed.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 130
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Norway
  • Jessheim
    • Ullensaker Municipality, Jessheim, Norway, 2050
      • Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy Service Centre

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 40 years to 85 years (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) classification criteria for clinical hand osteoarthritis
• FIHOA ≥ 5 at pre-baseline
• The persons must have a telephone

Exclusion Criteria:

• Persons with cognitive dysfunction
• Persons who do not understand Norwegian language
• Persons with inflammatory rheumatic diseases (e.g. rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis) or cancer
• Persons that have recently experienced severe trauma
• Persons that have recently gone through OA surgery or other major surgery

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Interventional Model: PARALLEL
• Masking: DOUBLE

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
NO_INTERVENTION: Usual care
EXPERIMENTAL: Exercise group	Other: Hand exercise program; Hand exercise program three times/week for 12 weeks. In total four group sessions, otherwise home based. Weekly telephone calls from experienced physiotherapist/occupational therapist addressing adjustments of the exercise program and encouragement of program adherence.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
The functional index for hand osteoarthritis (FIHOA)	6 months
Patient specific function scale (PSFS)	6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Hand joint pain (Numeric rating scale, 0-10)	6 months
Hand joint stiffness (Numeric rating scale, 0-10)	6 months
Fatigue (numeric rating scale, 0-10)	6 months
Patient global assessment of disease activity (Numeric rating scale, 0-10)	6 months
Exercise self-efficacy	6 months
Health related quality of life (15D)	6 months
Self-reported work ability and sick leave	6 months
Self-reported health care utilisation	6 months
Grip strength (JAMAR)	6 months
Grip size	6 months
Hand functioning (The Moberg Pick Up Test)	6 months
Global assessment of change of hand problem	6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Diakonhjemmet Hospital
• Collaborators: Norwegian Fund for Postgraduate Training in Physiotherapy
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Nina Østerås, PT, PhD, Diakonhjemmet Hospital

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Osteras N, Hagen KB, Grotle M, Sand-Svartrud AL, Mowinckel P, Kjeken I. Limited effects of exercises in people with hand osteoarthritis: results from a randomized controlled trial. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2014 Sep;22(9):1224-33. doi: 10.1016/j.joca.2014.06.036. Epub 2014 Jul 5.
• Osteras N, Hagen KB, Grotle M, Sand-Svartrud AL, Mowinckel P, Aas E, Kjeken I. Exercise programme with telephone follow-up for people with hand osteoarthritis - protocol for a randomised controlled trial. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2014 Mar 14;15:82. doi: 10.1186/1471-2474-15-82.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: January 1, 2011
• Primary Completion (ACTUAL): June 1, 2013
• Study Completion (ACTUAL): August 1, 2013

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 19, 2010
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 22, 2010
• First Posted (ESTIMATE): November 23, 2010

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ESTIMATE): October 29, 2013
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 27, 2013
• Last Verified: October 1, 2013

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Joint Diseases; Musculoskeletal Diseases; Rheumatic Diseases; Arthritis; Osteoarthritis
• Other Study ID Numbers: 100286_1