Skip to main content
OpenTrials
Completed

NCT Number: NCT02708550

Participatory Organizational Intervention for Improved Use of Assistive Devices for Patient Handling

Epidemiological studies have shown that patient transfer is a risk factor for back pain, back injuries and long term sickness absence, whereas consistent use of assistive devices during patient transfer is associated with reduced risk of back injury. In consequence, Danish hospitals have made great efforts to increase knowledge, availability and use of assistive devices to reduce work-related physical strain due to patient transfer. Yet, a recent survey among more than 300 nurses and nurses' aides showed that two thirds rarely uses assistive devices during patient transfer. Thus it seems relevant to investigate barriers, opportunities and practical solutions for increasing use of assistive devices among healthcare workers. The purpose of this study is to evaluate a participatory organizational intervention for improved use of assistive devices during patient transfer.

Completed

Looking for future studies?

Notify Me

Key information

Conditions

Musculoskeletal Disorders Musculoskeletal Diseases Occupational Injuries Wounds and Injuries

Age range

18 year–70 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.

At the department level:

Hospital departments with frequent patient handling will be eligible for participation in the cluster-randomized study.

At the individual level (questionnaire replies):

Inclusion criteria

  • Healthcare workers with daily patient handling (based on questionnaire reply at baseline)

Exclusion criteria

  • None

Treatment and study plan

Participatory Organizational Intervention

Behavioral

Primary outcomes

  1. Use of assistive devices (push-button)

    Time frame: Average use during the entire 1-year follow-up (i.e. continous measurement during 1 year) adjusted for use during 4 weeks prior to the intervention (baseline)

    The healthcare workers are encouraged to push one of the following two buttons every time they leave the room after having performed patient transfer; button 1 "Press this button if you used the necessary assistive devices for your patient transfer" and button 2 "Press this button if you did not use the necessary assistive devices for your patient transfer". The number of Button 1 counts as a percentage of total counts (Button 1+2) will be calculated for set of counters and used as primary outcome.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Use of assistive devices (accelerometer)

    Time frame: change from baseline to 1-year follow-up

    Accelerometers will be placed on the assistive devices. The method is currently being validated in the laboratory and will be finalized before initiation of the 1 year follow-up measurement. Accelerations of a certain time frame will be defined as "use", whereas brief accelerations will be considered as noise

  2. Pain intensity (VAS scale)

    Time frame: change from baseline to 1-year follow-up

    Pain intensity in the low-back is rated subjectively using a 0-10 modified VAS scale, where 0 indicates "no pain at all" and 10 indicate "worst pain imaginable"

  3. Perceived physical exertion (Borg CR10 scale)

    Time frame: change from baseline to 1-year follow-up

    Perceived physical exertion during patient handling. Borg CR10 scale

  4. Back injury

    Time frame: change from baseline to 1-year follow-up

    The specific question reads: "Have you within the last 12 months injured your back during patient transfer? (Think of situation where the pain appeared suddenly and unexpectedly)." The respondent replies "yes" or "no"

  5. Work ability (Index questionnaire)

    Time frame: change from baseline to 1-year follow-up

    The full Work Ability Index questionnaire (Ilmarinen)

  6. Social capital (Questionnaire)

    Time frame: change from baseline to 1-year follow-up

    Questionnaire concerning bonding, bridging, linking A, and linking B social capital (Andersen LL 2015 Scandinavian Journal of Public Health)

  7. Knowledge (Questionnaire)

    Time frame: change from baseline to 1-year follow-up

    Specific questionnaire about knowledge about patients transfer and safety at work

  8. Organizational Readiness to Change (Questionnaire)

    Time frame: change from baseline to 1-year follow-up

    Questionnaire about Organizational Readiness to Change

  9. Use of assistive devices (Questionnaire)

    Time frame: change from baseline to 1-year follow-up

    Questionnaire about frequency of use of the different types of assistive devices

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Denmark

Other Gov

Collaborators

  • Aalborg University

Registry information

Official study title

Deltagerinvolverende Intervention for Bedre Brug af hjælpemidler i hospitalsvæsenet

Acronym: IRMA12

Important dates

Study start
2016
Primary completion
2017
Study completion
2018
First posted
Mar 15, 2016
Registry last updated
Aug 13, 2018

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.

Related clinical trials

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.