Osteoarthritis in the Carpometacarpal (CMC) Joint Clinical Trial
Official title:
May Occupational Therapy Delay the Need for Surgery in Carpometacarpal Osteoarthritis: A Randomised Controlled Trial.
The purpose of the study is to investigate if occupational therapy may delay or prevent the
need for surgery in patients with carpometacarpal(CMC) osteoarthritis (OA) who are scheduled
for surgery in the CMC-joint.
Our study hypothesis is that compared to participants in the intervention group,
significantly more participants in the control group have received CMC-surgery after two
years.
Hand osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most prevalent musculoskeletal diseases in an adult
population, and approximately 68% of people between the ages of 71 and 80 years have
radiographic OA in the carpometacarpal (CMC) joint.
Currently, there is no cure for hand OA. However, several studies have demonstrated that hand
exercises and CMC-orthoses may reduce pain and improve grip strength, and in a recent study,
assistive devices improved activity performance and satisfaction with performance in people
with hand-OA. Still, most people do not receive any such treatment, but those with severe
CMC-OA are often referred for surgery in this joint. The effect of occupational therapy to
prevent or delay need for surgery CMC-OA has been investigated in a small study with 33
participants, but randomised controlled trails (RCT) of good quality are needed.
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