Exercise for pain management- The REMAP-Haemophilia study

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Physiotherapist-led telerehabilitation intervention for the management of chronic pain in people with severe haemophilia: a non-randomised, mixed methods feasibility study

  • IRAS ID

    294992

  • Contact name

    Paul McLaughlin

  • Contact email

    p.mclaughlin@nhs.net

  • Sponsor organisation

    Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust

  • ISRCTN Number

    ISRCTN17454597

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    0 years, 11 months, 30 days

  • Research summary

    Haemophilia is a rare inherited bleeding disorder. If left untreated, those with a severe form of the condition bleed into their joints and muscles. Multiple joint bleeds cause a painful condition known as haemophilic arthritis. Chronic pain is a problem for many people with haemophilia. In other types of arthritis, exercise is effective in for pain management, but it is unclear if it could work for people with haemophilia. The aim of this study is to evaluate if using exercise via telerehabilitation can be done (feasibility) and to assess what the participants think about taking part in it.

    Participants will be adults aged 18 and over, with a diagnosis of severe haemophilia A or B and chronic pain.

    15 participants in total will be recruited from three large haemophilia centres. The intervention will be 12 sessions delivered over 6 weeks using telerehabilitation. Participants will do the exercises in their own home with their haemophilia physiotherapist leading the session over webcam. Exercises will be personalised to each person’s own abilities. Each week will have one individual exercise session and one group exercise session (30 minutes each). Weeks 1, 3 and 5 will have a group knowledge sharing and discussion session before the group exercise. (30-40 minutes). Participants will complete short questionnaires about their pain, physical function and quality of life at the start and end of the six-week session and again 12 weeks after finishing the sessions. Participants will also be asked to participate in a short interview after they finish the exercise intervention, where they will discuss their experiences of taking part in the study.

    The findings from this study will help inform the design of follow up studies with larger numbers of people.

  • REC name

    East Midlands - Nottingham 2 Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    21/EM/0161

  • Date of REC Opinion

    14 Jul 2021

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion