MedPath

Self-management of Low Back Pain in Horticulture Workers

Not Applicable
Recruiting
Conditions
Back Pain
Interventions
Behavioral: Self-management videos
Behavioral: Check lists for ergonomic options
Behavioral: Text reminders
Behavioral: Video review
Registration Number
NCT06153199
Lead Sponsor
University of Florida
Brief Summary

The primary purpose of this hybrid Type II comparative effectiveness and implementation study is to compare two self-management strategies in nursery and landscape workers. This randomized pragmatic study will compare interventions with different degrees of support to determine if self-management videos plus multimodal personalized support is more effective than self-management videos alone for improving LBP among horticulture workers. Both groups will review short self-management video modules to introduce general pain concepts and the importance of managing pain without medication, risks of opioid use, self-management of pain, and simple ergonomic strategies for both groups. Both groups will choose 1 self-management strategy to manage pain at home and 1 ergonomic workplace strategy to limit pain. The video+support group will receive 1) check-list guidance, 2) review videos of their work tasks, and 3) receive text reminders to support implementation. Surveys will include instruments reflecting low back pain disability, pain, work ability, and affective or cognitive characteristics (self-efficacy, pain anxiety, depression, coping), collected at baseline, pre- and post-intervention, with follow-ups at 3- and 6-months. Workers will be videoed pre- and post-intervention for calculation of work risk and to compare any changes after the intervention. Specific aim 2 will identify contextual factors impacting engagement, adoption, effectiveness, and implementation. Interviews, focus groups, and field notes will be used to explain results and establish patterns to inform future translation.

Detailed Description

Primary dependent variables will be collected at all measurement points: pain severity, interference, and persistence, pain with specific work tasks, disability, work ability, and pain medication use. Affective or cognitive characteristics potentially impacting adoption and effectiveness (secondary dependent variables or confounders) such as coping, fear, anxiety, depression, will also be collected.The post- and follow-up survey questions will also reflect adoption, opinions of interventions, effectiveness, facilitators, and barriers.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
RECRUITING
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
164
Inclusion Criteria

Workers

  1. working full time (30 hours or more per week) in physically demanding nursery or landscape work
  2. currently employed or self-employed in small or medium size businesses
  3. 18 years of age or older
  4. English or Spanish speaking
  5. experiencing continuous or intermittent LBP over the past 3 months

Owners, managers, supervisors

  1. Owners, managers, or supervisors who meet the same inclusion criteria as workers will be eligible to participate in the training interventions as well as the supervisory roles.
  2. All owners, managers, and supervisors who are willing to participate will be enrolled.
Exclusion Criteria

Workers

  1. history of major trauma, surgery, or spinal nerve blocks in the past year
  2. seeking disability or workman's compensation
  3. self-disclosed pregnancy

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Self-management videos + Multimodal personalized supportCheck lists for ergonomic optionsParticipants will review short video modules on pain self-management without medication and ergonomic work adjustment and select 1 self-management option and 1 ergonomic option to use for 10 weeks. Participants will use 1) checklists to guided choices for strategies based on their self-identified most difficult work activities due to pain and options that they are not using regularly, 2) review video recordings of their own work movements to assist with ergonomic problem-solving and 3) receive text message reminders
Self-management videos + Multimodal personalized supportText remindersParticipants will review short video modules on pain self-management without medication and ergonomic work adjustment and select 1 self-management option and 1 ergonomic option to use for 10 weeks. Participants will use 1) checklists to guided choices for strategies based on their self-identified most difficult work activities due to pain and options that they are not using regularly, 2) review video recordings of their own work movements to assist with ergonomic problem-solving and 3) receive text message reminders
Self-management videos + Multimodal personalized supportSelf-management videosParticipants will review short video modules on pain self-management without medication and ergonomic work adjustment and select 1 self-management option and 1 ergonomic option to use for 10 weeks. Participants will use 1) checklists to guided choices for strategies based on their self-identified most difficult work activities due to pain and options that they are not using regularly, 2) review video recordings of their own work movements to assist with ergonomic problem-solving and 3) receive text message reminders
Self-management videos + Multimodal personalized supportVideo reviewParticipants will review short video modules on pain self-management without medication and ergonomic work adjustment and select 1 self-management option and 1 ergonomic option to use for 10 weeks. Participants will use 1) checklists to guided choices for strategies based on their self-identified most difficult work activities due to pain and options that they are not using regularly, 2) review video recordings of their own work movements to assist with ergonomic problem-solving and 3) receive text message reminders
Self-management videosSelf-management videosParticipants will review short video modules on pain self-management without medication and ergonomic work adjustment and select 1 self-management option and 1 ergonomic option to use for 10 weeks
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Pain Interference1 year

Extent of pain interference with work activities in the past week, 0=not at all, 100=prevented working at normal level, lower scores reflect less interference

Pain impact1 year

2 items with 5 point scale recording impact on work activities and social activities ranging from never to always, with lower scores reflecting less impact

Pain frequency1 year

Number of days in the past week pain is experienced ranging from 0-7

Pain persistence1 year

Pain in the past 3 months reported on a 5 item scale ranging from not at all to pain every day without a break.

Adoption1 year

Use of the interventions reported for each work or self-management strategy selected (number of days used in the past week, how often used (never, occassionally, consistently) Higher scores and consistently are optimal

Numeric Pain Rating Severity1 year

Severity of pain reported for the past week and for the 3 most difficult work activities 0=no pain, 100=worst imaginable pain, lower scores reflect lower pain

Roland Morris Disability Index1 year

Disability Index for functional difficulties related to low back pain scored from 0-24 with low scores indicating lower disability

Difficulty with work tasks1 year

Patient Specific Functional Scale reported for 3 most difficult work activities with subscales reported on a scale of 0= no difficulty, 100=unable to perform with the average of the 3 items used for analysis.

Work ability1 year

Work Ability short form is reported on numeric rating scale from 0 (completely unable to work) to 10 able to work at your best

Use of medication and substances1 yeat

Frequency of pain medication and substances for pain in past 3 months reported on a 4 item scale (never, 1-2 days, 3-4 days, 5-7 days) never is optimal. Items for alcohol, cannabis, tobacco, herbal products, acetaminophen, anti-inflammatories, muscle relaxants, opioids). Frequency of use per day on average also reported for a total estimate.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Ergonomic risk6 months

Rapid Ergonomic Behavioral Assessment rubric for video analysis for adjusted tasks rated out of a total of 15 indicating risk levels ranging from 1 negligible to very high

Depression scale1 year

Center for Epidemiology Depression Scale -Revised consists of 20 items reflecting frequency of depressive symptoms from rarely to most of the time with the total reported out of 60 with lower values as optimal

Pain anxiety Symptom Scale1 year

20 item instrument with the total of items reported from never to always reported out of 50. Lower values are optimal.

Self-efficacy for Chronic Disease Management1 year

PROMIS short form 8a Self-efficacy chronic disease management

Coping Skills Questionaire1 year

Coping Skills Questionnaire reporting confidence to be able to work and live a normal lifestyle rated on a 6 point scale from 0=not at all confident to 5=completely confident (total reported out of 10, and 7 point scale for control over pain 0=no control, 6=completely in control. The total is reported out of 12 with higher values as optimal

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

University of Florida

🇺🇸

Gainesville, Florida, United States

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