FEASIBILITY AND PRELIMINARY EFFECTS OF A TELE-EDUCATION-BASED ERGONOMIC AND HAND EXERCISE PROGRAM IN OFFICE WORKERS: A PILOT STUDY

April 22, 2026 updated by: Busra Turk, Istanbul University - Cerrahpasa

Many office workers spend long hours at desks, which can lead to hand and upper limb problems. These issues may reduce hand strength and affect daily activities and work performance.

This study will evaluate whether an online ergonomic training and hand exercise program is practical and helpful for desk-based workers over four weeks.

Researchers will measure hand grip strength and fine motor skills before and after the program to assess its potential benefits.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Prolonged desk-based work and increased screen time have been associated with a higher risk of upper extremity musculoskeletal problems, particularly affecting hand function. Reduced grip strength and impaired fine motor skills may negatively influence daily activities and work performance in office workers. Maintaining and improving hand function is therefore an important component of occupational health in this population.

Tele-education-based interventions have gained increasing attention as accessible and scalable approaches to deliver ergonomic training and exercise programs. However, current evidence on online interventions specifically targeting hand function in desk-based workers remains limited.

This study is designed as a single-group pilot study to evaluate the feasibility and preliminary effects of a tele-education-based ergonomic training and hand exercise program in office workers. The intervention will be conducted over four weeks and will include online ergonomic education and structured hand exercises delivered under physiotherapist supervision. In addition to supervised sessions, participants will be encouraged to continue the exercises as part of a home-based program.

The feasibility of the program will be explored in terms of its applicability in a remote setting. The potential effects of the intervention on hand function will be examined through changes observed before and after the program. The findings of this study are expected to provide preliminary evidence to inform the design of future controlled trials and contribute to the development of accessible interventions for desk-based workers.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

35

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

  • Turkey (Türkiye)
    • Alkent
      • Istanbul, Alkent, Turkey (Türkiye), 34104
        • Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, Faculty of Health Sciences

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

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Aged between 18 and 60 years
  • Working at a desk for at least 5 hours per day
  • Having no regular exercise habits
  • Not having received prior training related to office ergonomics, hand dexterity, or grip strength
  • Working in a desk-based job for at least 1 year
  • Willing to participate and providing written informed consen

Exclusion Criteria:

  • History of surgery involving the wrist or hand
  • Diagnosis of a neurological disorder
  • Inability to maintain regular participation during the training program

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: Prevention
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Tele-Education Ergonomic and Hand Exercise Intervention
Participants will receive a four-week tele-education-based ergonomic training and hand exercise program. At the beginning of the program, ergonomic education will be delivered once to all participants through an online session. The intervention will include supervised online exercise sessions conducted by a physiotherapist twice per week, with each session lasting approximately 40 minutes, focusing on structured hand exercises. In addition to the supervised sessions, participants will be instructed to perform the exercises on other days as part of a home-based program. The program aims to support proper working posture and improve hand use during daily activities.
Behavioral: Tele-Education-Based Ergonomic Training and Hand Exercise Program
Participants will receive a four-week tele-education-based ergonomic training and hand exercise program. Ergonomic education will be provided once at the beginning of the program through an online session. The exercise program will include supervised sessions conducted by a physiotherapist twice per week, each lasting approximately 40 minutes, focusing on structured hand exercises. Participants will also be instructed to perform the exercises on other days as part of a home-based program. The intervention is designed to improve working posture and support hand function during daily activities.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
hand grip strength
Time Frame: Baseline and Week 4
Participants' hand grip strength was measured face-to-face using a digital hand dynamometer. Measurements were performed in accordance with the standard testing position recommended by the American Hand Therapy Association (AHTA) (Hamilton et al., 1992). Higher scores indicate greater grip strength.
Baseline and Week 4
Fine Motor Skills (Nine-Hole Peg Test)
Time Frame: Baseline and Week 4
The Nine-Hole Peg Test (NHPT) was administered face-to-face to assess hand dexterity and fine motor performance. During the assessment, participants were seated at a table and instructed to pick up nine pegs from a container and place them into the holes as quickly as possible, in any order, and then remove them without interruption and return them to the container. Performance time was recorded in seconds using a stopwatch. The test was performed twice consecutively for each hand, and the average of the two trials for each hand was calculated. Shorter completion times indicate better fine motor skills (Oxford et al., 2003).
Baseline and Week 4

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Istanbul University - Cerrahpasa

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)

June 1, 2025

Primary Completion (Actual)

August 28, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

September 30, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 22, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 22, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

April 29, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 29, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 22, 2026

Last Verified

April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • IstanbulUC-FTR-BT-01

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Individual participant data will not be shared due to privacy, confidentiality, and institutional restrictions.

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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