Efficacy of a Remotely Administered Functional Capacity Test on Return-to-work Outcomes

NCT05370872 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 44076
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 90
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 5

Brief Summary

Currently, injured workers are required to visit a clinic, in-person, for functional testing as part of the rehabilitation and return-to-work process. The need for in-person testing has always caused problems for workers in remote areas without easy access to clinics. COVID-19 has made the problem of access to in-person clinical testing worse. Now, many injured workers can't receive functional testing due to COVID-19 related clinic closures and isolation restrictions. The investigators aim to develop and evaluate a functional testing protocol that can be delivered remotely to solve the problem of access to in-person clinic testing. A functional test that can be completed remotely, while the client remains in their home will increase access to timely testing, improve client satisfaction by removing the need for costly and time consuming travel, and will continue to help injured workers quickly recover and return to meaningful work. This research study will help to determine if return-to-work outcomes improve, or remain unchanged, when functional testing is completed remotely relative to in the clinic.

Conditions

Low Back Disorder; Shoulder Disease; Musculoskeletal Injury

Keywords

Functional capacity evaluation; Return to work; Functional testing; Motivational interviewing; Telehealth

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Return to work recommendation at intake

  When referred to an musculoskeletal program of care, clients are classified into return to work categories based on their ability to meet job requirements as measured by the clinician using the functional testing protocol. The return to work recommendation at intake is used to inform the rehabilitation program.

  Baseline measure - a intake into the rehabilitation program

• Return to work recommendation at discharge

  Once the client has completed a musculoskeletal program of care, clients are again classified into return to work categories based on their ability to meet job requirements as measured by the clinician using the functional testing protocol. The return to work recommendation at discharge is used to inform how the client is reintegrated into their workplace.

  At program discharge (approximately 8-12 weeks post intake, where each client will receive a tailored program based on their return to work recommendation at intake)

• Return to work status

  Clients will be aske to describe their current work status at three-months post discharge by selecting 1 of 5 options (work regular, full time duties; work regular, part time duties, work light duty or modified position full time; work light duty or modified position part time; not currently working)

  three-months post discharge

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Adverse events

  Through study completion, and average of 1 year

• Client experience and satisfaction

  one-week post initial functional testing session

Study Arms (2)

Care-as-usual

NO INTERVENTION

Clients in this group will complete functional testing in the clinic using the care-as-usual approach.

Remote functional testing

EXPERIMENTAL

Clients in this group will complete functional testing using the remote functional testing approach.

Diagnostic Test: Remote functional testing protocol

Interventions

Remote functional testing protocol DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

Clients in the remote functional testing protocol group will be asked to describe their functional capacity limits using a clinician guided motivational interviewing approach and will also be asked to complete a mobility screening protocol to provide the clinician with the opportunity to observe the clients natural movements.

Remote functional testing

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Injured workers with accepted Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) of Ontario claims referred to CBI Health for WSIB Specialty Programs related to musculoskeletal injuries of either Back and Neck, or Upper Extremity.

You may not qualify if:

• Under the age of 18 years,
• referred for surgery during the time of the rehabilitation programming,
• have a concurrent traumatic brain injury or mental health disorder that takes precedence over the musculoskeletal injury, or
• require the assistance of an interpreter to read, write or speak English.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Waterloo: lead
• CBI Health: collaborator

Study Sites (5)

CBIH London Dundas

London, Ontario, N5W 3C6, Canada

Location

CBIH London Fanshawe

London, Ontario, N6G 0W7, Canada

Location

CBIH London Wonderland

London, Ontario, N6K 3X4, Canada

Location

CBIH Nepean

Nepean, Ontario, K2H 5V6, Canada

Location

CBIH St. Laurent

Ottawa, Ontario, K1K 4H4, Canada

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Gross DP, Asante AK, Miciak M, Battie MC, Carroll LJ, Sun A, Mikalsky M, Huellstrung R, Niemelainen R. A cluster randomized clinical trial comparing functional capacity evaluation and functional interviewing as components of occupational rehabilitation programs. J Occup Rehabil. 2014 Dec;24(4):617-30. doi: 10.1007/s10926-013-9491-4.

  PMID: 24374369 RESULT

Study Officials

• Steve Fischer

  Associate Professor, University of Waterloo

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Masking Details: The individual responsible for comparing return-to-work outcome between groups will be blind to the group assignments
• Purpose: SCREENING
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: Cluster randomized controlled trial. Clinicians will be randomly assigned to administer the functional testing protocol in-person (care-as-usual) or remotely (the intervention). Clients will complete the functional testing protocol based on the group assignment of the clinician to whom they were referred to.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: May 2, 2022
• First Posted: May 12, 2022
• Study Start: November 1, 2022
• Primary Completion: December 31, 2023
• Study Completion: March 31, 2024
• Last Updated: April 16, 2024

Record last verified: 2022-11

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

CA (5)