Occurrence, Diagnosis and Treatment of Neck and Back Pain in Helicopter Pilots.

The purpose of this project is to investigate the occurrence of neck and back pain in a population of commercial helicopter pilots, and investigate factors related to the profession that can cause these problems. The project has a biological approach assessing the supporting and stabilizing muscles (multifidus) in pilots with chronic back and neck ailments. Pilots with low back problems are invited to a controlled intervention trial to investigate whether one can achieve improved spinal health with a rigid training régime. Primary trial outcome is improved neck and back multifidus muscles pathology and function as assessed by the extent of fat infiltration -as visualized on MRI - and the volume and ability of the lumbar multifidus muscles to contract as shown with ultrasound. The perceived effect on spinal health with sick leave frequency is also evaluated.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Low Back Pain; Neck Pain; Muscular Atrophy
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Low back exercises 1; Other: Low back exercise 2

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 325
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Norway
  • Stavanger, Norway
    • Research Dep. Stavanger University Hospital Armauer Hansens vei 20 PB 8100 4068 Stavanger

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 20 years to 60 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Pilots must experience low back pain in at least 1 of 3 flights or
• Pilots must have at least 2 episodes of low back pain of at least 24 hours duration over the last 12 months. Each episode is separated with at least one painfree month before and after each episode, or
• Pilots may have had more than 3 sick leaves due to low back pain over the last 5 years

Exclusion Criteria:

• contraindications for physical training/activity

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Low back exercises 1; Specific low back extensor exercises in special training bench	Other: Low back exercises 1; Excentric / concentric extension type exercises
Active Comparator: Low back exercise 2; Traditional low back exercises.	Other: Low back exercise 2; Traditional low back training

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Multifidus muscle fat infiltration (% of muscle volume).	Primary trial outcome is improved neck and back multifidus muscles pathology and function as assessed by the extent of fat infiltration as visualized on MRI (% of muscle volume).Change from baseline at 12 months.	one year

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Lumbar multifidus muscles contractability.	Volume and ability of the lumbar multifidus muscles to contract as shown with ultrasound (% of expansion during reflex activation)Change from baseline at 3,6,9,12 and 24 months.	Two years

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Number and duration of sick leaves amongst helicopter pilots	Effect on spinal health with sick leave frequency in helicopter pilots. Change from baseline in numbers and duration compared to previous years statistics.	Two years

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Helse Stavanger HF
• Investigators: Study Chair: Jan P Larsen, Prof.Dr.Med, Research Dep. Stavanger University Hospital

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Andersen K, Baardsen R, Dalen I, Larsen JP. Recurrent and Transient Spinal Pain Among Commercial Helicopter Pilots. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2015 Nov;86(11):962-9. doi: 10.3357/AMHP.4237.2015.
• Andersen K, Baardsen R, Haga H, Due G, Dalen I, et al. (2017) Transient Low Back Pain among Helicopter Pilots; Imaging and Lumbar Trunk Muscular Endurance. J Phys Med Rehabil Disabil 3: 021
• Andersen K, Baardsen R, Dalen I, Larsen JP. Impact of exercise programs among helicopter pilots with transient LBP. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2017 Jun 20;18(1):269. doi: 10.1186/s12891-017-1631-0.
• Andersen K, Baardsen R, Dalen I, Larsen JP. Long-term effects of exercise programs among helicopter pilots with flying related LBP. J Back Musculoskelet Rehabil. 2018 Feb 6;31(1):1-13. doi: 10.3233/BMR-170897.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 1, 2013
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 1, 2019
• Study Completion (Actual): December 1, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 5, 2013
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 7, 2013
• First Posted (Estimate): February 11, 2013

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 24, 2020
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 23, 2020
• Last Verified: December 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Nervous System Diseases; Pain; Neurologic Manifestations; Neuromuscular Manifestations; Pathological Conditions, Anatomical; Atrophy; Back Pain; Low Back Pain; Neck Pain; Muscular Atrophy
• Other Study ID Numbers: SUS-ID 294; 2010/2254/REK vest (Other Identifier: REK / Norway)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO