Using Personalized Rehabilitation to Reduce Disease and Increase Activity of Patients With Polymyalgia Rheumatica

August 4, 2026 updated by: Washington University School of Medicine

Using Personalized Rehabilitation to Reduce Disease and Increase Activity of Patients With Polymyalgia Rheumatica: a Feasibility Randomized Clinical Trial

Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) is a condition that causes joint pain and stiffness, making it hard for people to do everyday tasks. Movement pattern training is a special, personalized rehabilitation program that aims to reduce pain by improving how people move during their daily activities. The investigators plan to test if it's possible to conduct a detailed study to find out how effective Movement pattern training is for people with PMR. The investigators will look at whether it helps them perform activities they want to do, reduce their use of certain medications, and strengthen their muscles. The investigators will also gather feedback from patients about their experience with Movement pattern training. This study will help us understand if carrying out a larger study on Movement pattern training's effectiveness is practical.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

20

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 Contact

  • Name: Marcie Harris-Hayes, DPT, MSCI
  • Phone Number: 314-286-1435
  • Email: harrisma@wustl.edu

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
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patient reports a diagnosis or flare of polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) < 5 months before the screening contact

  • Diagnosis or flare of PMR according to the European League against Rheumatism/American College of Rheumatology (EULAR/ACR) classification criteria as follows (must satisfy all criteria)10:

    • Age ≥50 years at time of diagnosis
    • Presence of bilateral shoulder pain
    • Elevated acute phase reactants C-reactive protein (CRP) >10 milligram/Liter and/or Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR) >30 millimeters/hour*

    • A score ≥4 at the time of diagnosis based on the following (without ultrasound):

      • Duration of morning stiffness >45 minutes: 2 points
      • Hip pain or limited range of motion: 1 point
      • Seronegative for rheumatoid factor and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide: 2 points
      • Absence of other joint involvement: 1 point
  • Initiated pharmacological treatment
  • Able to give informed consent
  • Physician's clearance to participate in physical activity

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Diagnosis of fibromyalgia, neuropathic muscular disease, complex regional pain syndrome, or small fiber neuropathy
  • planned major surgical procedure during the study
  • Current active uncontrolled infection

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: Other
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Usual Care
Patients will be encouraged to complete their treatment as described by their physician.
Other: Usual Care
  • Basic education about polymyalgia rheumatica, benefits of physical activity
  • Patients will be encouraged to participate in physical activity as tolerated
  • Medication as prescribed by their physician
Experimental: Movement Pattern Training (MoveTrain)
Movement pattern Training (MoveTrain) is progressive activity-specific training to improve altered joint motion during patient-specific tasks. At baseline, each patient identifies specific activities (e.g., getting out of bed), work (e.g., reaching overhead), and physical activities (e.g., cycling) that are difficult due to their pain. A movement examination is performed to identify the altered joint motion on associated with movement-evoked pain and the motion modification that reduces their pain. The treatment provider then instructs the patient in activity-specific training, which includes practicing multiple repetitions of the modified activity as their home exercise program. Patients also are instructed to use the trained modified motion during their daily activities to maximize their use in daily routines. This encourages frequent practice and potentially greater program sustainability.
Behavioral: Movement Pattern Training (MoveTrain)

6 individualized treatment sessions over 10 weeks

  • Motivational interviewing to determine personal goals and strengthen motivation and commitment to change
  • Activity-specific training to practice modified motion during patient-specific tasks, defined as activities reported by each patient as pain-provoking
  • Home exercise program 3 times/week consisting of activities or exercises assigned in the supervised sessions
  • Patient's independence and adherence in performing home exercise program will be documented
  • Patients are encouraged to use modified motion during daily and physical activities
  • Based on patient performance, activity difficulty is progressed by increasing repetitions performed or increasing load or speed

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Number of potential participants accessed.
Time Frame: 7 months
The total number of people with Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) who were recruited each week
7 months
Percent of eligible participants who were willing to be randomized
Time Frame: 7 months
Percent of eligible participants are willing to be randomized during the study
7 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Preliminary estimates of change in polymyalgia rheumatica impact scale (PMR-IS)
Time Frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 10 weeks
The change in polymyalgia rheumatica impact scale (PMR-IS), a self-report questionnaire specific to polymyalgia rheumatica, that represents the patients symptoms and functional ability.
From enrollment to the end of treatment at 10 weeks
Preliminary estimates of change in physical activity
Time Frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 10 weeks
The change in physical activity as represented by the Stanford 7-DAy Physical Activity Recall survey
From enrollment to the end of treatment at 10 weeks
Preliminary estimates of change in cumulative glucocorticoid dose
Time Frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 10 weeks
Change in cumulative glucocorticoid dose assessed by patient's self-report logs
From enrollment to the end of treatment at 10 weeks
Preliminary estimates of change in muscle strength
Time Frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 10 weeks
change in muscle strength of the hips and shoulders, assessed using a hand dynamometer
From enrollment to the end of treatment at 10 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Washington University School of Medicine

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 (Estimated)

August 15, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

March 31, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

March 31, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 24, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 4, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

August 6, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

August 6, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 4, 2026

Last Verified

August 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 202602100

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

This is a feasibility study with only 20 planned participants with limited budget. There is insufficient support for personnel required to prepare the data for sharing purposes.

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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