Jointstrong Intervention for Juvenile Arthritis
Condition: Juvenile Arthritis
MeSH terms: Arthritis; Arthritis, Juvenile
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      This study is a randomized wait-list controlled trial with repeated measures. There will be
      two groups: (1) standard medical care (wait-list control), and (2) standard medical care plus
      the adjunctive Jointstrong pain coping skills CD-ROM program (treatment). The study will have
      four phases: Pre-intervention Baseline (2 weeks); Intervention (4 weeks); immediate
      post-intervention follow up (2 weeks); and 12-week post-intervention follow up (2 weeks). The
      purpose of this study is to determine if using a CD-ROM program for juvenile arthritis can
      help children learn how to improve their symptoms on their own and reduce the frequency of
      symptoms.
    

Detailed description: 
      If your child is eligible and decides to participate in this study, this participation will
      last approximately eight weeks. Please refer to the table at the end of this consent form.

      Your child's participation in this study will involve the completion of daily questionnaires
      during a one-week baseline period and a one-week follow-up period. These questionnaires will
      contain various questions about your child's arthritis and his/her ability to do various
      activities. The questionnaires will take approximately 15-30 minutes each week to complete.

      Your child will be randomly assigned to complete one of two CD-ROM programs. One of the
      CD-ROM programs is a "control" program that contains educational information about arthritis
      and medical treatments and the other is the "treatment" program and contains the same
      educational information as the control program plus information on behavioral strategies for
      controlling symptoms of arthritis. Your child's participation in this study will involve
      working through one of these CD-ROM programs over a one-month period. Your child will also
      continue to receive medical treatment from the rheumatologist treating your child for
      arthritis. The CD-ROM programs involve working through developmentally appropriate lessons on
      the nature of arthritis and how to treat it. The CD-ROM programs are divided into weekly
      "modules" and are designed to be completed within four weeks. Lessons take an average of 15
      minutes to complete (plus "homework"), and there is an average of 4 lessons to complete each
      week.

      Your participation in this study will involve the completion of questionnaires and helping
      your child understand any parts of the study that he or she does not understand.
    

Intervention name(s): CD-ROM; Wait-list Control Group
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Treatment Group will continue to follow their treating rheumatologist's recommendations and prescriptions. The program will contain information on the multiple components of pain (the "pain puzzle") as a treatment rationale and will then teach children to use cognitive-behavioral techniques for pain management. The information will be presented via visual displays, narration, and interactive menus. Children will be able to navigate through the different lessons at their own pace and will be required to take simple quizzes to assess their learning. Various passwords and homework assignments are embedded within the program to ensure that children are going through the material.; Children in the control group will continue to follow recommendations and prescriptions by their treating rheumatologist. After an 8-week wait-list control condition that involves measurement phases identical to those of the Jointstrong Treatment Group but no Jointstrong treatment, the children in the control group will enter the Jointstrong program and will then have the same immediate post-treatment measures that the Treatment Group received. The Control Group will not, however, have the Treatment Group's 12-week follow-up phase.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Treatment