Development and Evaluation of an Online Multidimensional Musculoskeletal Health Programme

NCT05522933 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: HSEARS20220624001
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 30
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Globally, work-related musculoskeletal symptoms (WRMSs) have become one of the major public health issues, with musculoskeletal problems contributing to the largest proportion of lost work productivity. Literature has reported that grassroots working-class workers (also known as low-skilled workers) are the most vulnerable group to WRMSs as their work mostly exposes them to the identified risk factors. However, not many intervention studies have been conducted for low-skilled workers to prevent WRMSs. Based on the concept of the multidimensional approach from the literature, and the project team's previous evidence-based research results, this project will modify the project team's face-to-face evidence-based musculoskeletal health promotion program to an online mode with 4 weekly 45-minute workshops for low-skilled workers in the community under the Covid-19 pandemic situation. Thus, the project has the following specific objectives: (i) To determine the feasibility of conducting the proposed online program (ii) To examine the acceptability and satisfaction of the online program from the workers' perspectives (iii) To evaluate the potential effects of the online program on the primary outcomes: compliance with exercise regimes, improvement of musculoskeletal literacy, and reduction of the number of body parts with WRMSs (iv) To evaluate the potential effects of the online program on the secondary outcomes: reduction of adverse workstyle, improvement of exercise self-efficacy, mental health, body mass index, hip-waist ratio, and blood pressure measurements

Conditions

Occupational Health

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Compliance with exercise regimes

  Exercise regimes will be measured by number of times the participant perform the exercise taught. The higher the number represents a better outcome

  Change from the measurement at baseline (T0) to one week after intervention (T1)

• Musculoskeletal literacy

  Musculoskeletal literacy will be measured by a scale with 25 items with right or wrong answer. Score 1 will be denoted to right answer while score 0 will be denoted to wrong answer. Thus, the higher the score represents a better outcome

  Change from the measurement at baseline (T0) to one week after intervention (T1)

• Incidence of body parts with work-related musculoskeletal systems (WRMSs)

  The incidence of body parts with WRMSs will be measured by a modified general Nordic Musculoskeletal questionnaire to collect data about pain, aches or discomfort in different body parts. Score 1 will be denoted to one body part with WRMSs and Score 0 will be denoted to the body part without WRMSs. Thus, the higher the score represents a worse outcome.

  Change from the measurement at baseline (T0) to one week after intervention (T1)

Secondary Outcomes (7)

• Adverse workstyle

  Change from the measurement at baseline (T0) to one week after intervention (T1)

• Self-efficacy

  Change from the measurement at baseline (T0) to one week after intervention (T1)

• Mental health

  Change from the measurement at baseline (T0) to one week after intervention (T1)

• Body mass index

  Change from the measurement at baseline (T0) to one week after intervention (T1)

• Hip-waist ratio

  Change from the measurement at baseline (T0) to one week after intervention (T1)

Study Arms (1)

Musculoskeletal Health

EXPERIMENTAL

The intervention group will receive the 4 weekly workshops

Other: 4 weekly musculoskeletal health promotion workshops with stretching and muscle-strengthening exercise

Interventions

4 weekly musculoskeletal health promotion workshops with stretching and muscle-strengthening exercise OTHER

The modified online multidimensional musculoskeletal health promotion program will consist of 4 weekly workshops for 90-minute each for a group size of 8-12 participants. The topics of the workshop are: (1) exercise and health \& work; (2) prevention of musculoskeletal problems; (3) musculoskeletal health and traditional Chinese medicine; and (4) mental health and community resources. Each workshop will consist of stretching and muscle strengthening exercises (30 minutes), a health education topic (about 45 minutes), and a question-and-answer period (about 15 minutes).

Musculoskeletal Health

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• low-skilled workers aged ≥ 18
• working full-time or part-time,
• with at least one body part that had been affected by WRMSs for at least one month.

You may not qualify if:

• engagement in WRMS prevention programs in the workplace at the time of the study,
• undergoing medical treatment

Sponsors & Collaborators

• The Hong Kong Polytechnic University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Residents Mutual Help Centre

Kowloon, Hong Kong

Location

Study Officials

• Kin Cheung

  The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: August 22, 2022
• First Posted: August 31, 2022
• Study Start: August 18, 2022
• Primary Completion: May 31, 2023
• Study Completion: January 31, 2025
• Last Updated: March 30, 2025

Record last verified: 2022-08

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

HK (1)