Coordination Between General Practitioners and Physical Therapists in Primary Health Care for Musculoskeletal Pain: Effect on Sick Leave and Referral to Specialist Care.
Trial Snapshot
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Status
- Completed
- Enrollment
- 969
- Locations
- 4
- Primary Endpoint
- change in sick leave
Study Overview
Brief Summary
Patients who suffer from musculoskeletal pain often have more than one diagnosis. These patients mostly have to wait a long time for the doctor's examination and treatment, and they also often have a sick leave for a long period of time. The investigators expect that treatment and follow-up by an coordinating interdisciplinary team can improve these patients opportunity to function, increase their quality of life, and decrease their pain. The purpose of this study is to investigate if use of a coordinating interdisciplinary team in primary health care will result in reduced sick leave compared with practice as usual, and give fewer referrals to specialized health services and private rehabilitation centers. Research data will be obtained from the patients journals, questionnaires, and clinical examinations..
Study Design
- Study Type
- Interventional
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Intervention Model
- Parallel
- Primary Purpose
- Health Services Research
- Masking
- Single (Participant)
Eligibility Criteria
- Ages
- 21 Years to 58 Years (Adult)
- Sex
- All
- Accepts Healthy Volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria
- •patient in one of the participating general practices
- •musculoskeletal complaints in 3 years before start of this study
- •informed consent
Exclusion Criteria
- Not provided
Arms & Interventions
coordinating primary health care 1
musculoskeletal pain care by a coordinating team of one general practitioner and two physical therapists
Intervention: coordinating primary health care (Other)
coordinating primary health care 2
musculoskeletal pain care by a coordinating team of one general practitioner and two physical therapists
Intervention: coordinating primary health care (Other)
usual primary health care 2
usual care of musculoskeletal pain in general practice
Intervention: usual primary health care (Other)
usual primary health care 1
usual care of musculoskeletal pain in general practice
Intervention: usual primary health care (Other)
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
change in sick leave
Time Frame: 3 years
average number of days sick leave during 3 years pre-intervention and during the first, second and third year of the study
referrals to specialist care
Time Frame: 3 years
number of referrals to specialist care including private rehabilitation centers
Secondary Outcomes
No secondary outcomes reported