Allied Health in Rheumatology Triage Project

Inflammatory Arthritis Clinical Trial

— AHRT  

Official title:

Allied Health in Rheumatology Triage Project

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT02465879
• Other study ID #: AHRT-2015
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• First received: June 4, 2015
• Last updated: June 29, 2016
• Start date: May 2015
• Est. completion date: December 2015

Study information

• Verified date: June 2015
• Source: Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Health authority: Canada: Institutional Review Board
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

There is accumulating evidence that early treatment leads to better outcomes for patients with inflammatory arthritis (IA). Triage, which is the process of identifying the urgency of a patient's disease state efficiently and correctly, may facilitate early referral to a rheumatologist. Several studies have suggested that placing allied health professionals (occupational therapists, physical therapists, nurses, etc.) in a triage roll may reduce wait time for patients with suspected IA. The goal of this investigation will be to demonstrate the system-level impact of an Arthritis Society extended role occupational therapist (OT) or physical therapist (PT) working in a triage role in improving access to rheumatologists for people with IA. In this study two groups will be observed: intervention and "usual care" as determined by historical chart review. Wait times will be compared between both groups.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 295
• Est. completion date: December 2015
• Est. primary completion date: December 2015
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: Both
• Age group: 18 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• New referrals from a GP

• Adults with possible IA (determined by rheumatologist through paper triage)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Currently on a disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD)

• Previously seen by a rheumatologist.

• FM, non-IA OA; soft tissue rheumatism; mechanical LBP

Study Design

Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment, Masking: Open Label

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Arthritis
• Inflammatory Arthritis

Intervention

Other:
• Therapist Triage
An extended role occupational or physical therapist will triage each subject in the study to determine the urgency of their case and how soon they need to see the rheumatologist.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
n/a

Sponsors (4)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre	Ontario Best Practices Research Initiative, Ontario Rheumatology Association, The Arthritis Society, Canada

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Time to first visit with the rheumatologist (wait time)		3 months	No
Secondary	Time to diagnosis		3 months	No
Secondary	Time to treatment (disease-modifying antirheumatic drug)		3 months	No