title: OARSI Clinical Trials Recommendations: Design and conduct of clinical trials of rehabilitation interventions for osteoarthritis.
abstract: A Task Force of the Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) has previously published a set of guidelines for the conduct of clinical trials in osteoarthritis (OA) of the hip and knee. Limited material available on clinical trials of rehabilitation in people with OA has prompted OARSI to establish a separate Task Force to elaborate guidelines encompassing special issues relating to rehabilitation of OA. The Task Force identified three main categories of rehabilitation clinical trials. The categories included non-operative rehabilitation trials, post-operative rehabilitation trials, and trials examining the effectiveness of devices (e.g., assistive devices, bracing, physical agents, electrical stimulation, etc.) that are used in rehabilitation of people with OA. In addition, the Task Force identified two main categories of outcomes in rehabilitation clinical trials, which include outcomes related to symptoms and function, and outcomes related to disease modification. The guidelines for rehabilitation clinical trials provided in this report encompass these main categories. The report provides guidelines for conducting and reporting on randomized clinical trials. The topics include considerations for entering patients into trials, issues related to conducting trials, considerations for selecting outcome measures, and recommendations for statistical analyses and reporting of results. The focus of the report is on rehabilitation trials for hip, knee and hand OA, however, we believe the content is broad enough that it could be applied to rehabilitation trials for other regions as well.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. Electronic address: kfitzger@pitt.edu.
authors.forename: G K
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Fitzgerald
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health, Exercise & Sports Medicine, Department of Physiotherapy, University of Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Hinman
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zeni
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Research Center for Active Rehabilitation, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Risberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Snyder-Mackler
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health, Exercise & Sports Medicine, Department of Physiotherapy, University of Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Bennell
mesh_terms: D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D000066768:Rehabilitation Research
keywords: Clinical trials; Osteoarthritis; Rehabilitation