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Completed

NCT Number: NCT01671267

Implementation of Physical Exercise at the Workplace (IRMA06) - Slaughterhouse Workers

The prevalence of pain in the shoulder, arm and hand is high among slaughterhouse workers, allegedly due to the substantial load of these body regions during work. Work disability is a common consequence of these pains. Lowering the physical exposure through ergonomic intervention may be a strategy to reduce the workload. An alternative strategy could be to increase the physical capacity through strength training of the shoulder-, arm- and hand-muscles. This study investigates the effect of two contrasting interventions, i.e. load reduction (ergonomic intervention) versus training of physical capacity (strength training) on pain and work disability in slaughterhouse workers.

The main hypothesis is that strength training intervention for 10 weeks compared with ergonomic intervention results in reduced pain of the shoulder, arm and hand.

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Key information

Conditions

Musculoskeletal Disorders Musculoskeletal Diseases

Age range

18 year–67 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

National Research Centre for the Working Environment

Copenhagen, 2100, Denmark

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Slaughterhouse worker
  • the pain should have lasted at least 3 months
  • pain intensity during the last three months of >= 3 (scale 0-10) in the shoulder, elbow or hand
  • the pain should be frequent (at least 3 days per week)

Exclusion criteria

  • life threatening disease
  • pregnancy

Treatment and study plan

strength training

Behavioral

Ergonomic

Behavioral

Primary outcomes

  1. Pain intensity

    Time frame: change from baseline to week 10

    The change in "pain intensity during the last week" (average value of shoulder, elbow and hand) from baseline to 10 week follow-up between the strength training group and ergonomic group. The ergonomic group will be considered the reference group. 2-way analysis of variance (Proc Mixed of SAS) with repeated measures will be used, with time and group as fixed factors and subject as random factor.

Secondary outcomes

  1. DASH

    Time frame: change from baseline to week 10

    Disability of the arm, shoulder and hand questionnaire (DASH). Only the work-module of DASH will be included. Analyzed the same way as the primary outcome.

Other outcomes

  1. PPT

    Time frame: change from baseline to week 10

    Pressure pain threshold of the muscle of the forearm, external rotators of the shoulder, and tibialis anterior of the leg (reference muscle).

  2. WAI

    Time frame: change from baseline to week 10

    Work ability index questionnaire

  3. Total tenderness score

    Time frame: change from baseline to week 10

    change in examiner-verified tenderness of the muscles of the shoulder, arm and hand. Scale of "no", "a little", "moderate" and "severe" tenderness. Summed up to a total tenderness score (Andersen LL 2011, PMID: 21177034)

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Denmark

Other Gov

Registry information

Acronym: IRMA

Important dates

Study start
2012
Primary completion
2012
Study completion
2013
First posted
Aug 23, 2012
Registry last updated
Jan 28, 2014

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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