Influence of Osteoarthritis Information on Treatment Beliefs

University of Melbourne

Status: Completed

Conditions: Osteoarthritis, Knee

Treatments: Other: Information on osteoarthritis; Other: Information on treatment options; Other: Recommendation from general practitioner

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04698655

20744

Details and patient eligibility

About

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of educational information, with and without a general practitioner recommendation to exercise, on willingness to undertake exercise/physical activity for knee osteoarthritis. Eligible participants will be aged 45+ years and will not currently have osteoarthritis, knee pain, or any condition that makes them unable to exercise. Participants will be asked to complete an online survey, during which they will be randomised to one of three groups and shown different types of educational information to read. Outcome measures will be collected as part of the survey before and after participants read the educational information presented to them.

Full description

3-arm superiority online randomised controlled trial (delivered within one survey). Participants will complete an online survey, during which they will be presented with a hypothetical scenario asking them to imagine that they had recently developed knee pain and have gone to see their general practitioner. Participants will then be randomised to one of 3 different groups (described below). Each group will be shown different types of educational material and asked to read the information carefully. Once they have finished reading the material, they will be asked to complete follow-up outcome measures to determine whether their beliefs about osteoarthritis management strategies have changed.

The 3 trial groups are:

I. Control group: asked to read a single-A4 page of brief osteoarthritis information ("what is osteoarthritis"); II. Treatment options group: asked to read brief osteoarthritis information + two A4 pages of information on treatment options ("osteoarthritis treatment options"), and; III. Treatment options + recommendation group: asked to read brief osteoarthritis information + information on treatment options + receive a hypothetical GP recommendation for exercise

Enrollment: 735 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 45+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Aged 45+ years

Exclusion criteria

• Been told by a health professional that they have osteoarthritis in any joint/anywhere in the body
• Have experienced any knee pain in the prior 3 months
• Unable to read English
• Have had a joint replacement in any knee or hip joint
• Have any health condition that makes unable to exercise

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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735 participants in 3 patient groups

Control group

Active Comparator group

Description:

Asked to read a single-A4 page of brief osteoarthritis information ("what is osteoarthritis")

Treatment:

Other: Information on osteoarthritis

Treatment options group

Experimental group

Description:

Asked to read brief osteoarthritis information + two A4 pages of information on treatment options ("osteoarthritis treatment options")

Treatment:

Other: Information on treatment options

Other: Information on osteoarthritis

Treatment options + recommendation group

Experimental group

Description:

Asked to read brief osteoarthritis information + information on treatment options + receive hypothetical general practitioner recommendation for exercise

Treatment:

Other: Information on treatment options

Other: Recommendation from general practitioner

Other: Information on osteoarthritis