Feasibility and potential effectiveness of a non-pharmacological multidisciplinary care programme for persons with generalised osteoarthritis: a randomised, multiple-baseline single-case study

Abstract

ObjectivesTo evaluate the feasibility and potential effectiveness of a 12-week, non-pharmacological multidisciplinary intervention in patients with generalised osteoarthritis (GOA).DesignA randomised, concurrent, multiple-baseline single-case design. During the baseline period, the intervention period and the postintervention period, all participants completed several health outcomes twice a week on Visual Analogue Scales.SettingRheumatology outpatient department of a specialised hospital in the Netherlands.Participants1 man and four women (aged 51–76 years) diagnosed with GOA.Primary outcome measuresTo assess feasibility, the authors assessed the number of dropouts and adverse events, adherence rates and patients' satisfaction.Secondary outcome measuresTo assess the potential effectiveness, the authors assessed pain and self-efficacy using visual data inspection and randomisation tests.ResultsThe intervention was feasible in terms of adverse events (none) and adherence rate but not in terms of participants' satisfaction with the intervention. Visual inspection of the data and randomisation testing demonstrated no effects on pain (p=0.93) or self-efficacy (p=0.85).ConclusionsThe results of the present study indicate that the proposed intervention for patients with GOA was insufficiently feasible and effective. The data obtained through this multiple-baseline study have highlighted several areas in which the therapy programme can be optimised.

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