Coordinating Teams in Primary Health Care.

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Patients who suffer from musculoskeletal pain often have more than one diagnosis. These patients mostly have to wait a long time for the doctor's examination and treatment, and they also often have a sick leave for a long period of time. The investigators expect that treatment and follow-up by an coordinating interdisciplinary team can improve these patients opportunity to function, increase their quality of life, and decrease their pain. The purpose of this study is to investigate if use of a coordinating interdisciplinary team in primary health care will result in reduced sick leave compared with practice as usual, and give fewer referrals to specialized health services and private rehabilitation centers. Research data will be obtained from the patients journals, questionnaires, and clinical examinations..

Official Title
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Coordination Between General Practitioners and Physical Therapists in Primary Health Care for Musculoskeletal Pain: Effect on Sick Leave and Referral to Specialist Care.

Conditions
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Musculoskeletal Diseases

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: coordinating primary health care
* Other: usual primary health care


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: patient in one of the participating general practices musculoskeletal complaints in 3 years before start of this study informed consent Exclusion Criteria: -

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 21 Years
Maximum Age: 58 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: coordinating primary health care 1<br>musculoskeletal pain care by a coordinating team of one general practitioner and two physical therapists | Other: coordinating primary health care<br> <br> |
| Active Comparator: usual primary health care 1<br>usual care of musculoskeletal pain in general practice | Other: usual primary health care<br> <br> |
| Experimental: coordinating primary health care 2<br>musculoskeletal pain care by a coordinating team of one general practitioner and two physical therapists | Other: coordinating primary health care<br> <br> |
| Active Comparator: usual primary health care 2<br>usual care of musculoskeletal pain in general practice | Other: usual primary health care<br> <br> |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| change in sick leave | average number of days sick leave during 3 years pre-intervention and during the first, second and third year of the study | 3 years | 
| referrals to specialist care | number of referrals to specialist care including private rehabilitation centers | 3 years | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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primary health care, Physical Therapy Specialty, General Practitioners, General Practice