Management of Chronic Post-Partum Pelvic Girdle Pain Study (MOPS)

October 30, 2017 updated by: Jenny Freeman, University of Plymouth

Management of Chronic Post-Partum Pelvic Girdle Pain Study: Evaluating Effectiveness of Combined Physiotherapy and a Dynamic Elastomeric Fabric Orthosis

Pelvic Girdle Pain (PGP) during pregnancy occurs in approximately 70% of females and 38% of women continue to suffer PGP symptoms beyond 12 weeks following delivery. PGP post- partum causes pain during everyday activities that impacts negatively on health related quality of life and is associated with significant healthcare and societal costs. These women are often referred to physiotherapy, however management is difficult and there is a weak evidence base for its management.

Alongside the provision of advice and information, physiotherapists commonly prescribe orthoses such as a rigid belt with the aim of optimising pelvic stability and reducing pain. More recently a novel customised Dynamic Elastomeric Fabric Orthosis has been developed as an alternative to an 'off the shelf' pelvic belt. No studies have investigated their effectiveness in complementing standard physiotherapy advice and management.

The investigators will undertake a comprehensive systematic review of the literature to critically evaluate the evidence base for the conservative management of chronic post-partum PGP. This will inform a single case experimental design. Here eight AB single case studies will be performed with the point of intervention being randomised between subjects. The use of a randomisation test permits subsequent statistical analyses of group effects. Participants' pain, activity levels, and quality of life will be evaluated along with subjective changes in confidence and urinary incontinence. Adherence to orthosis use will be diarised. Exit interviews will assess aspects such as the appropriateness of the outcome measures and acceptability of the intervention that will help to inform future clinical trials.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Pelvic girdle pain (PGP) occurs in 70% of pregnant women; of whom 25% have severe pain and 8% severe disability requiring the use of crutches, wheelchair or confinement to bed (Wu et al, 2004). At a personal level, women with PGP find that everyday activities such as turning in bed, prolonged walking, or carrying items may cause pain; impacting negatively on quality of life (Wang et al, 2004). In economic terms societal costs are significant, mainly as a consequence of work absenteeism; with 20% of people requiring an average of 7 weeks sick leave (Noren et al, 1997). The impact of this problem is significant; with 812, 970 deliveries occurring throughout the UK in 2012/13 (http://www.statistics.gov.uk/hub/index.html). Pregnancy related PGP has also been documented to increase.

PGP during pregnancy is thought to occur due to increased pelvic joint motion as a consequence of hormonal and biomechanical factors. For many women PGP symptoms resolve within approximately 3 months of delivery, however, approximately 38% of females continue to experience pain beyond 3 months following delivery (Gutke et al 2010, Van de Pol et al 2006). It is unknown why chronic symptoms persist, but age, parity, pre- pregnancy body mass index (BMI), mode of delivery and previous PGP, along with emotional and psychosocial factors have been identified as risk factors associated with chronic PGP (Robinson et al, 2010)). Further, women having caesarean section are at increased risk of post-partum chronic PGP, which is noteworthy given the increasing percentage of women who are electing for caesarean section for early symptomatic relief of peri-partum PGP. Urinary incontinence is also documented to affect approximately 70% of females suffering with pregnancy related PGP. If PGP symptoms continue into the post-partum then urinary incontinence is reported to continue due to an association with PGP and pelvic floor muscle weakness (Fitzgerald et al, 2012).

PGP is difficult to manage with limited guidance from the literature on conservative management. European Guidelines recommend exercise prescription for PGP (Vleeming et al., 2008) leading to the development of a Specialist Women's Health group information booklet that will be used in the current study.

An integral part of physiotherapists' management approach for PGP is the provision of orthoses such as rigid pelvic belts, which aim to improve pelvic joint stability and thus reduce pain. Pelvic belts apply forces to the pelvis within the transverse plane. Recently dynamic elastomeric fabric orthoses (DEFO) have been developed. A DEFO is made of elastomeric panels (e.g. Lycra ®) that are pre-stretched and can provide forces in multiple directions to the pelvis. Thus they provide continued multi-axis support whilst being flexible enough to allow people to participate in everyday activities. Studies on sports people with pelvic girdle pain have shown that the application of forces in more than one plane decreases pain and improves function over and above that seen with the application of transverse forces associated with pelvic belts (Sawle et al, 2013). Therefore the DEFO may have advantages over current rigid pelvic belts in terms of mode of action, clinical effectiveness and user satisfaction. To date a comprehensive literature search has revealed there have been no trials of orthotic use in women with chronic PGP post-partum. This project will therefore follow the recommendations of the Medical Research Council in the development and evaluation of complex interventions to establish a clearer understanding of PGP and its management post-partum that can inform future clinical trials.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

8

Phase

  • 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

  • United Kingdom
    • Avon
      • Bristol, Avon, United Kingdom, BS10 5NB
        • Southmead Hospital
    • Devon
      • Plymouth, Devon, United Kingdom, PL6 8BH
        • University of Plymouth

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

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria: Women with PGP (commenced or aggravated during pregnancy) will be included if they:

  • have symptoms that continued for > 3 months following birth,
  • have PGP that causes walking and/or stair climbing to be bothersome (as determined by a score of at least 2 on a 10 point visual analogue scale)
  • are positive on at least 3 out of 7 pain provocation tests (see screening section below)

Exclusion Criteria: Women will be excluded if they have:

  • A recent history/signs or symptoms indicative of serious causes of pain that might be inflammatory infective, traumatic, neoplastic, degenerative or metabolic.

In particular exclusion will occur if following questioning or clinical examination there is evidence of:

  • trauma
  • Indicators of serious pathology
  • steroid use
  • drug abuse
  • HIV infection
  • immunosuppressed state
  • neurological symptoms/signs (including cauda-equina)
  • fever
  • systemically unwell
  • obstetric complications
  • pain that does not improve with rest/severe disabling pain
  • history of chronic back or pelvic pain requiring surgery.
  • a known skin allergy to Lycra

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: TREATMENT
  • Allocation: NA
  • Interventional Model: SINGLE_GROUP
  • Masking: NONE

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: Customised Orthosis
Customised Dynamic Elastomeric Fabric Orthosis (DEFO)
Device: Customised Dynamic Elastomeric Fabric Orthosis (DEFO)
Eligible participants will be measured and fitted with a customised Dynamic Elastomeric Fabric Orthosis (DEFO). Participants will also be issued with standardised advice on PGP management via an information leaflet from Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Women's health website.
Other Names:
  • Pelvic Support Garment
  • Customised Dynamic Elastomeric Fabric Orthosis

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Pain Levels
Time Frame: Baseline (Pre intervention), 1 weekly intervals for 8, 9, 10 weeks (dependent on baseline randomisation), then a following 8,9,10 weeks Intervention (total 16 weeks)
Change in pain levels at 1 weekly intervals will be measured by a self-report numerical pain rating scale
Baseline (Pre intervention), 1 weekly intervals for 8, 9, 10 weeks (dependent on baseline randomisation), then a following 8,9,10 weeks Intervention (total 16 weeks)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Activity Levels
Time Frame: Baseline (Pre intervention), 1 weekly intervals for 8, 9, 10 weeks (dependent on baseline randomisation), then a following 8,9,10 weeks Intervention (total 16 weeks)
Change in activity levels at 1 weekly intervals will be measured by a self-report questionnaire
Baseline (Pre intervention), 1 weekly intervals for 8, 9, 10 weeks (dependent on baseline randomisation), then a following 8,9,10 weeks Intervention (total 16 weeks)
Quality if Life
Time Frame: Baseline (Pre intervention), 1 weekly intervals for 8, 9, 10 weeks (dependent on baseline randomisation), then a following 8,9,10 weeks Intervention (total 16 weeks)
Change in quality of life levels at 1 weekly intervals will be measured by a self-report questionnaire
Baseline (Pre intervention), 1 weekly intervals for 8, 9, 10 weeks (dependent on baseline randomisation), then a following 8,9,10 weeks Intervention (total 16 weeks)

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Plymouth

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Lee Cameron, University of Plymouth

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

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)

January 1, 2016

Primary Completion (ACTUAL)

July 1, 2017

Study Completion (ACTUAL)

July 1, 2017

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 6, 2016

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 6, 2016

First Posted (ESTIMATE)

January 7, 2016

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ACTUAL)

November 1, 2017

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 30, 2017

Last Verified

October 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • PGP-LC15

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

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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