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NCT Number: NCT07538323

Wrist Injury Strengthening Exercise (WISE) Versus Usual Care Advice for Improving Pain and Function

The goal of this clinical trial is to find out whether a therapist-guided exercise program helps people aged 50 and older recover better, in terms of pain and function, after a wrist fracture, compared to the usual care advice they would normally receive. The main question it aims to answer is:

• Will participants who receive a therapist-supervised exercise program have better improvement in pain and function, as measured by the Patient Rated Wrist Evaluation questionnaire, six months after their injury?

Researchers will compare these participants with those who receive usual care, which includes advice on self-management, to see if the supervised exercise program leads to greater recovery.

Participants will:

* Either receive supervised exercise, with a therapy session of up to 60 minutes and two additional sessions of up to 30 minutes each in addition to usual-care, or they will receive solely usual-care, consisting of advice on self-management. * Complete questionnaires electronically at baseline, 3-months, and 6-months.

Recruiting

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Key information

Age range

50 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

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

Inclusion criteria

  • Distal radius fracture treated surgically or non-surgically
  • Willing and able to give informed consent

Exclusion criteria

  • Injury is more than two months old
  • There is evidence that the patient would be unable to participate in therapy or a self-guided exercise program provided by a participating center or adhere to study procedures (including cognitive impairment and fracture/surgery complications such as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome)
  • No e-mail address to receive electronic questionnaires
  • Open fractures with a Gustilo & Anderson grading >1

Treatment and study plan

Supervised Exercise

Other

Verbal advice, a leaflet, and instruction in a strength training program delivered by an occupational or physical therapist at the hospital or virtually. This is followed by two additional sessions with a therapist in the municipality, focusing on progression in the exercise program. Participants will receive written instructions (a Supervised Exercise workbook) along with a personal login to access a patient information video.

The exercise program is a highly structured system of hand and upper limb exercises. The program will enable participants to progress their exercises after the initial set-up session with the therapist. The program will utilize a range of resistance exercises based upon functional movements designed to promote recovery of the strength required for activities of daily living (e.g., chopping, lifting, pushing, jar opening).

Usual Care

Other

Verbal advice and a leaflet provided at the hospital. Advice will include hand and wrist mobilization exercises to restore flexibility and guidance on building up activity gradually. Participants receiving solely usual care will not be provided with access to the intervention materials (the Supervised Exercise workbook).

Primary outcomes

  1. Patient-Rated Wrist Evaluation (PRWE)

    Time frame: Measured at baseline, 3 months and 6 months follow-up

    The primary outcome is the Patient Rated Wrist Evaluation (PRWE) at 6 months post-randomization: A 15 item patient-reported questionnaire that assesses pain and functional difficulties in activities of daily living resulting from injuries affecting wrist joint area (total score ranges from 0 to 100, higher scores indicate worse wrist pain and function). The pain subscale has 5 items (0 = no pain, 10 = worst pain) and the function subscale has 10 items (0 = no difficulty, 10 = unable to do). A total score on a scale of 100 is computed from the two subscales equally weighted (0 = no disability). The total score is the trial primary outcome, with the two subscales also reported as secondary outcomes.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Wrist pain subscale measured using the Patient Rated Wrist Evaluation (PRWE)

    Time frame: Baseline, 3 months and 6 months follow-up

    The PRWE pain subscale contains 5 items each of which is further rated from 0-10 (0 = no pain, 10 = worst pain). The maximum score in this section is 50 and minimum 0.

  2. Wrist function subscale measured using the Patient Rated Wrist Evaluation (PRWE)

    Time frame: Baseline, 3 months and 6 months follow-up

    The PRWE function subscale contains 10 items which are further divided into 2 sections i.e specific activities (having 6 items) and usual activities (having 4 items) and is rated from 0-10 (0 = no difficulty, 10 = unable to do). The score of all 10 items is summed and then divided by 2, resulting in a maximum score of 50 and minimum 0.

  3. PROMIS Physical Function Upper Extremity-Short Form 7a

    Time frame: Baseline, 3 months and 6 months follow-up

    Self-reported capability focusing on activities that require use of the upper extremity including shoulder, arm, and hand activities. The PROMIS Physical Function Upper Extremity-Short Form 7a contains 7 questions scored 1-5, with 1 being unable to do the activity and 5 being able to do the activity without any difficulty.

  4. QuickDASH

    Time frame: Baseline, 3 months and 6 months follow-up

    The QuickDASH is a shortened version of the DASH Outcome Measure. Instead of 30 items, the QuickDASH uses 11 items to measure physical function and symptoms in people with any or multiple musculoskeletal disorders of the upper limb. The QuickDASH is scored in two components: the disability/symptom section (11 items, scored 1-5) and the optional high performance sport/music or work modules (four items, scored 1-5). A higher score indicates greater disability.

  5. EuroQol 5 Dimensions (EQ-5D-5L)

    Time frame: Baseline, 3 months and 6 months follow-up

    Quality of life measured using the EuroQol 5 Dimensions (EQ-5D-5L) a validated, generalized and standardized instrument comprising a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) measuring self-rated health and a health status instrument, consisting of a five-level response (no problems, some problems, moderate problems, severe problems and unable) for five domains related to daily activities; (i) mobility, (ii) selfcare, (iii) usual activities, (iv) pain and discomfort and (v) anxiety and depression. Responses to the health status classification system are converted into an overall score using a published utility algorithm for the Danish population. The EQ-5D health status scale ranges from negative scores -0.594 [reflective of a patient's quality of life being worse than death], 0 [death], to 1 [perfect health]. A respondent's EQ-VAS gives self-rated health on a scale where the endpoints are labelled 'best imaginable health state' (100) and 'worst imaginable health state' (0).

  6. Self-Efficacy for Exercise scale (SEE)

    Time frame: Baseline, 3 months and 6 months follow-up

    A 9-item participant-reported questionnaire (total scores range from 0 to 90, higher scores indicate higher self-efficacy for exercise) will be used to assess the participants' confidence in their ability to exercise

  7. Exercise adherence measured by self-reported exercise frequency

    Time frame: 3 months and 6 months follow-up

    Participants will be asked to indicate how many times in the preceding week they have done specific exercises for their injured hand and upper extremity, to assess engagement with the advised exercises after wrist fracture.

  8. Serious adverse events (SAEs)

    Time frame: 3 months and 6 months follow-up

    All unexpected serious adverse events related to the randomized interventions will be recorded. These events will be reported by recruitment centers as they become aware of events. Serious adverse events are an adverse event that: results in death; is life-threatening, requires hospitalisation or prolongation of existing hospitalisation; results in persistent or significant disability or incapac-ity; is a congenital anomaly or birth defect; or is otherwise considered medically significant by the in-vestigator (i.e., medical events that may jeopardise the participant or may require an intervention to pre-vent one of the above characteristics/consequences).

  9. Adverse events (AEs)

    Time frame: 3 months and 6 months follow-up

    Foreseeable adverse events will be recorded as complications both by recruitment centers and participants. AEs that are unrelated to the intervention will not be reported. AEs deemed related to the intervention that do not meet the SAE definition and are not classed as foreseeable as per the following (such as discomfort during performance of exercises), will also not be reported. Foreseeable adverse events include: increase in pain lasting more than one week; treatment-related exacerbations of other medical conditions that do not meet the definition of serious (for example angina after exertion); development of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome; surgery to the injured wrist (unless an adverse event directly related to the exercise intervention, in which case this would be an SAE); development of carpal tunnel syndrome requiring medical intervention (corticosteroid injection or surgery); wound complication in the injured wrist.

Other outcomes

  1. Health resource use

    Time frame: 3 months and 6 months follow-up

    Health resource use as measured by self-reported bespoke questionnaire (including primary and secondary care consultation, additional therapy, investigations, surgery, prescribed and over-the-counter pain medication), sick leave (days), out-of-pocket expenses. Resource use will be converted into costs using standard unit cost estimates. The components will be aggregated to estimate the total cost per participant.

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

Andreas Bentzen, MHSc

CONTACT

[email protected]

+45 53109112

Inger Mechlenburg, DMSc

CONTACT

[email protected]

+45 21679062

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Aarhus

Other

Collaborators

  • Aarhus University Hospital Skejby

Registry information

Official study title

Progressive Resistance and Flexibility Exercises Versus Usual Care Advice for Improving Pain and Function After Distal Radius Fracture in Adults Aged 50 Years or Over in Denmark: the WISE-DK Randomised Trial

Acronym: WISE-DK

Important dates

Study start
2026
Primary completion
2029
Study completion
2029
First posted
Apr 20, 2026
Registry last updated
Jun 30, 2026

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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