North staffordshire knee pain patients to take part in major clinical trial
Up to 350 people in North Staffordshire who suffer from the painful condition of osteoarthritis of the knee are to take part in a major four-year clinical trial to assess the most effective methods of care and treatment.
Patients from eight general practices in North Staffordshire will be recruited over the next 18 months, and allocated either treatment by a physiotherapist, advice from a trained community pharmacist, or a brief telephone advice service.
The trial has been developed by Julius Sim, Professor of Physiotherapy in the Primary Care Sciences Research Centre at Keele University, and the North Staffordshire Primary Care Consortium. It will be funded by a grant of £104,000 from medical research charity the Arthritis Research Campaign.
"Many older people report knee pain that disrupts or limits their daily activities, and most are managed by their GP who tries to control pain and minimise disability," explained Professor Sim.
"It's been suggested that community pharmacists and physiotherapists could play a bigger part in providing treatment in this setting, but it is not clear how effective this would be. So we've designed this study to get an idea of the likely benefits and costs of a pharmacy service based in general practice, and active physiotherapy for older people with knee pain."
Patients taking part in the trial will be assessed up to 12 months after treatment. The trial should provide important information on the potential impact of making these forms of treatment available on a routine basis.
The Arthritis Research Campaign is the fifth biggest medical research charity in the UK, and over the past 12 months has raised almost £23m from public donations to fund its research programme. It exists to find the cause of and cure for arthritis and all forms of rheumatic disease.
