Occurrence, Diagnosis and Treatment of Neck and Back Pain in Helicopter Pilots.

NCT01788111 | Completed DMC

• 2 other identifiers: SUS-ID 2942010/2254/REK vest
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 325
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The purpose of this project is to investigate the occurrence of neck and back pain in a population of commercial helicopter pilots, and investigate factors related to the profession that can cause these problems. The project has a biological approach assessing the supporting and stabilizing muscles (multifidus) in pilots with chronic back and neck ailments. Pilots with low back problems are invited to a controlled intervention trial to investigate whether one can achieve improved spinal health with a rigid training régime. Primary trial outcome is improved neck and back multifidus muscles pathology and function as assessed by the extent of fat infiltration -as visualized on MRI - and the volume and ability of the lumbar multifidus muscles to contract as shown with ultrasound. The perceived effect on spinal health with sick leave frequency is also evaluated.

Conditions

Low Back Pain; Neck Pain; Muscular Atrophy

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Multifidus muscle fat infiltration (% of muscle volume).

  Primary trial outcome is improved neck and back multifidus muscles pathology and function as assessed by the extent of fat infiltration as visualized on MRI (% of muscle volume).Change from baseline at 12 months.

  one year

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Lumbar multifidus muscles contractability.

  Two years

Other Outcomes (1)

• Number and duration of sick leaves amongst helicopter pilots

  Two years

Study Arms (2)

Low back exercises 1

EXPERIMENTAL

Specific low back extensor exercises in special training bench

Other: Low back exercises 1

Low back exercise 2

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Traditional low back exercises.

Other: Low back exercise 2

Interventions

Low back exercises 1 OTHER

Excentric / concentric extension type exercises

Low back exercises 1

Low back exercise 2 OTHER

Traditional low back training

Low back exercise 2

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 20 Years - 60 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Pilots must experience low back pain in at least 1 of 3 flights or
• Pilots must have at least 2 episodes of low back pain of at least 24 hours duration over the last 12 months. Each episode is separated with at least one painfree month before and after each episode, or
• Pilots may have had more than 3 sick leaves due to low back pain over the last 5 years

You may not qualify if:

• contraindications for physical training/activity

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Helse Stavanger HF: lead

Study Sites (1)

Research Dep. Stavanger University Hospital Armauer Hansens vei 20 PB 8100 4068 Stavanger

Stavanger, Norway

Location

Related Publications (4)

• Andersen K, Baardsen R, Dalen I, Larsen JP. Recurrent and Transient Spinal Pain Among Commercial Helicopter Pilots. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2015 Nov;86(11):962-9. doi: 10.3357/AMHP.4237.2015.

  PMID: 26564761 BACKGROUND

• Andersen K, Baardsen R, Haga H, Due G, Dalen I, et al. (2017) Transient Low Back Pain among Helicopter Pilots; Imaging and Lumbar Trunk Muscular Endurance. J Phys Med Rehabil Disabil 3: 021

  BACKGROUND

• Andersen K, Baardsen R, Dalen I, Larsen JP. Impact of exercise programs among helicopter pilots with transient LBP. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2017 Jun 20;18(1):269. doi: 10.1186/s12891-017-1631-0.

  PMID: 28633669 BACKGROUND

• Andersen K, Baardsen R, Dalen I, Larsen JP. Long-term effects of exercise programs among helicopter pilots with flying related LBP. J Back Musculoskelet Rehabil. 2018 Feb 6;31(1):1-13. doi: 10.3233/BMR-170897.

  PMID: 29278872 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Low Back Pain; Neck Pain; Muscular Atrophy

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Back Pain; Pain; Neurologic Manifestations; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Neuromuscular Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases; Atrophy; Pathological Conditions, Anatomical

Study Officials

• Jan P Larsen, Prof.Dr.Med

  Research Dep. Stavanger University Hospital

  STUDY CHAIR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: DOUBLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER GOV
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: February 5, 2013
• First Posted: February 11, 2013
• Study Start: January 1, 2013
• Primary Completion: December 1, 2019
• Study Completion: December 1, 2019
• Last Updated: March 24, 2020

Record last verified: 2019-12

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

NO (1)