Feasibility and potential effectiveness of a non-pharmacological multidisciplinary care programme for persons with generalised osteoarthritis: a randomised, multiple-baseline single-case study

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the feasibility and potential effectiveness of a 12-week, non-pharmacological multidisciplinary intervention in patients with generalised osteoarthritis (GOA). DESIGN A randomised, concurrent, multiple-baseline single-case design. During the baseline period, the intervention period and the postintervention period, all participants completed several health outcomes twice a week on Visual Analogue Scales. SETTING Rheumatology outpatient department of a specialised hospital in the Netherlands. PARTICIPANTS 1 man and four women (aged 51-76 years) diagnosed with GOA. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES To assess feasibility, the authors assessed the number of dropouts and adverse events, adherence rates and patients' satisfaction. SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES To assess the potential effectiveness, the authors assessed pain and self-efficacy using visual data inspection and randomisation tests. RESULTS The intervention was feasible in terms of adverse events (none) and adherence rate but not in terms of participants' satisfaction with the intervention. Visual inspection of the data and randomisation testing demonstrated no effects on pain (p=0.93) or self-efficacy (p=0.85). CONCLUSIONS The results of the present study indicate that the proposed intervention for patients with GOA was insufficiently feasible and effective. The data obtained through this multiple-baseline study have highlighted several areas in which the therapy programme can be optimised.