The effects of arthritis gloves on people with Rheumatoid Arthritis or Inflammatory Arthritis with hand pain: a study protocol for a multi-centre randomised controlled trial (the A-GLOVES trial)

BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders

Study Protocol

Terence O’Neill¹  Sarah Cotterill²  Elizabeth Camacho³  Alison Hammond⁴  Nazina Arafin⁴  Yeliz Prior⁵  Jo Adams⁶  Chris Sutton⁷  Wendy Jones⁸  Jill Firth⁹  Yvonne Hough^1,10 

[1] Arthritis Research UK Centre for Epidemiology, University of Manchester & NIHR Manchester Musculoskeletal Biomedical Research Unit, Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester Academic Health Sciences Centre, Manchester, UK;Centre for Biostatistics, School of Health Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK;Centre for Health Economics, Division of Population Health, Health Services Research, and Primary Care, School of Health Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK;Centre for Health Sciences Research (OT), University of Salford, Frederick Road, L701 Allerton Building, M6 6PU, Salford, Greater Manchester, UK;Centre for Health Sciences Research (OT), University of Salford, Frederick Road, L701 Allerton Building, M6 6PU, Salford, Greater Manchester, UK;Mid Cheshire NHS Trust, Leighton Hospital, Crewe, Leighton, UK;Health Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK;Lancashire Clinical Trials Unit, UCLAN, Preston, UK;Patient Research Partner, Manchester, UK;Pennine Musculoskeletal Partnership Ltd, Oldham, UK;St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, St Helens Hospital, St Helens, UK;

关键词: Arthritis gloves;    Rheumatoid arthritis;    Inflammatory arthritis;    Occupational therapy;    Hand pain;    Hand stiffness;    Hand swelling;    Compression gloves;    Splints;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12891-017-1583-4

 received in 2017-05-05, accepted in 2017-05-15,  发布年份 2017

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundArthritis gloves are regularly provided as part of the management of people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and undifferentiated (early) inflammatory arthritis (IA). Usually made of nylon and elastane (i.e. Lycra®), these arthritis gloves apply pressure with the aims of relieving hand pain, stiffness and improving hand function. However, a systematic review identified little evidence supporting their use. We therefore designed a trial to compare the effectiveness of the commonest type of arthritis glove provided in the United Kingdom (Isotoner gloves) (intervention) with placebo (control) gloves (i.e. larger arthritis gloves providing similar warmth to the intervention gloves but minimal pressure only) in people with these conditions.MethodsParticipants aged 18 years and over with RA or IA and persistent hand pain will be recruited from National Health Service Trusts in the United Kingdom. Following consent, participants will complete a questionnaire booklet, then be randomly allocated to receive intervention or placebo arthritis gloves. Within three weeks, they will be fitted with the allocated gloves by clinical specialist rheumatology occupational therapists. Twelve weeks (i.e. the primary endpoint) after completing the baseline questionnaire, participants will complete a second questionnaire, including the same measures plus additional questions to explore adherence, benefits and problems with glove-wear. A sub-sample of participants from each group will be interviewed at the end of their participation to explore their views of the gloves received. The clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the intervention, compared to placebo gloves, will be evaluated over 12 weeks. The primary outcome measure is hand pain during activity. Qualitative interviews will be thematically analysed.DiscussionThis study will evaluate the commonest type of arthritis glove (Isotoner) provided in the NHS (i.e. the intervention) compared to a placebo glove. The results will help occupational therapists, occupational therapy services and people with arthritis make informed choices as to the value of arthritis gloves. If effective, arthritis gloves should become more widely available in the NHS to help people with RA and IA manage hand symptoms and improve performance of daily activities, work and leisure. If not, services can determine whether to cease supplying these to reduce service costs.Trial registrationISRCTN Registry: ISRCTN25892131 Registered 05/09/2016

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2017