Development Of a haemophiLia physiotherapy intervention - Version 1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Development Of a haemophiLia PHysiotherapy INtervention(DOLPHIN) - Feasibility Study
IRAS ID
236939
Contact name
David Stephensen
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 1 months, 31 days
Research summary
Children are born with haemophilia and only boys are affected. It is a disorder where the blood does not clot normally, leading to bleeding into muscles and joints. Muscles may become weak and joints may be painful and difficult to move. Our recent work shows performance of everyday tasks such as walking, going up and down stairs and balancing on one leg, are negatively affected and depend on muscle strength. “Being able to participate in games and activities with their friends” is one of the things that matters most to boys with haemophilia. We have good reason to believe that muscle strengthening exercises might help children with the condition and improve their health in the long term. However, we cannot be sure.
We would like to carry out a study that would test whether muscle strengthening exercises can reduce pain and improve movement in the joints of children with haemophilia or if it helps them to participate in games and activities with their friends. We have developed an exercise routine by consulting experienced physiotherapists together with haemophiliac boys and their families. We will allocate 10 boys to a group that is asked to complete a 12-week exercise routine to strengthen their leg muscles and another 10 boys to a group that does not do the exercises. The boys will be allocated by chance and the research team will have no control to which group each of the boys is allocated. We will monitor all the boys throughout the study. At the end of this study we will not be able to answer the question “Does muscle strengthening help improve the long term health of children with haemophilia?” However, we will know whether such a research study could be done, and what the best ways to do it will be.
REC name
London - Fulham Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/LO/2043
Date of REC Opinion
20 Dec 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion