AzTrials
AzTrials

ContractureNCT06042907

Development, Validation and Evaluation of the Feasibility of the Observational Risk Assessment of Contractures (Longitudinal Evaluation) Tool: The ORACLE Study

An observational study of Contracture and Joint Contracture, run by Bournemouth University at 8 sites in United Kingdom.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
Search all trials

Trial summary

The Observational Risk Assessment for Contractures- Longitudinal Evaluation (ORACLE) is a risk assessment tool for contractures. The tool was originally designed and developed by a group of multidisciplinary health professionals within Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust (DHUFT). Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 years and olderHealthy volunteers can take part
Conditions the study is for
Contracture, Joint Contracture
How many people
224 participants
Where
8 sitesUnited Kingdom
Study dates
11 Sep 2023to 1 Oct 2024
Phase
Observational
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 18 years and older
  • All sexes
  • Healthy volunteers accepted
  • Adult, Older adult

Study population: Care home residents will be recruited for this study

Who may be able to join

  • Care home residents aged 18 or above residing in residential and/ or nursing care homes located in Dorset.

Who cannot join

  • Adults receiving end of life care

Trial locations and contacts

8 sites in 1 country.

8 sites in 1 country

United Kingdom8 sites
  • Stratfield Lodge Care Home

    Bournemouth, Dorset, BH88JL

  • Muscliff Nursing Home

    Bournemouth, Dorset, BH9 3RE

  • Farway Grange Care Home

    Bournemouth, BH8 9EA

  • Avon view

    Christchurch, Dorset, BH23 2GZ

  • Highcliffe Nursing Care Home

    Christchurch, Dorset, BH235JS

  • Fernhill Dementia Home

    Ferndown, Dorset, BH22 9AW

  • Branksome Park Care Centre

    Poole, Dorset, BH13 7BY

  • Colten Care-Newstone House (Residential, Nursing and Dementia Care)

    Sturminster Newton, Dorset, DT10 1FF

Other trials in United Kingdom

About this study

The Observational Risk Assessment for Contractures- Longitudinal Evaluation (ORACLE) is a risk assessment tool for contractures. The tool was originally designed and developed by a group of multidisciplinary health professionals within Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust (DHUFT). Bournemouth University and DHUFT sponsored a match funded studentship to establish the academic validation of the tool.

The results from the previously conducted studies (Phase One) as part of this project: (i) a systematic review of the literature and an (ii) online Delphi survey with field experts provided initial evidence for further development, content validity, and modification of the tool.

Read more

The current study (Phase Two) aims to establish the psychometric validation, acceptability, and usability of the modified tool through formal testing on adult care home residents in Dorset. It consists of two streams of work: Stream A aims to establish the psychometric validation by completing the ORACLE assessments on adult care home residents. The assessments will be performed by the care home staff. In Stream B, a realist evaluation will be performed to explore the usability and practicality of ORACLE with selected care home managers and staff who were involved in organising and completing the assessments on ORACLE respectively.

The results from this two-phase design will then inform further revisions of the tool if required.

Read the detailed description

Joint contractures are described as any degree of reduction in the passive range of motion within a joint due to muscle or connective tissue shortening eventually leading to structural abnormalities within the affected joint. ). This can lead to further deterioration in limb and joint flexibility, mobility, and activities of daily living (ADL's).

It has been reported that the care home residents spend most of their time remaining sedentary. Reduced mobility or lack of physical activity adversely affects the residents' physical and psychological well-being of the residents, including reduced motivation to engage in physical and social activities, pain, increased risk of pressure sores, contractures, and physical dependency.

Structured risk assessments play an important role in referring patients to the appropriate health care practitioner and enacting early treatment strategies to reduce the risk of the condition progressing. However, there is a clear lack of a standardised, evidence-based measure that can actively identify the risk of contractures and trigger appropriate and timely referrals to healthcare professionals.

The tool, Observational Risk Assessment for Contractures- Longitudinal Evaluation (ORACLE) was initially designed with the aim to address the gap mentioned above by a group of healthcare professionals (physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and nurses within Dorset Healthcare, Bournemouth Borough Council, Poole Borough Council, Dorset County Council, and Dorset CCG. The working party discussed the potential causes and factors associated with contracture development and/or progression based on their clinical experience and developed relevant themes to define the construct of the tool. The original construct developed underwent a series of transformations before a face-to-face consensus over a series of meetings to finally include eight items in the tool.

To establish the academic validation of the tool before widespread use and implementation, Dorset Health Care collaborated with Bournemouth University and sponsored a match-funded PhD Studentship. The PhD project has been structured into two main phases: Phase One: content validation and phase II: external validation.

Phase One:

In the first phase, first a systematic review of literature was conducted collate evidence on factors associated with contractures in literature. Based on the findings of this review, an online two-round Delphi consensus survey was designed and conducted with a group of purposively sampled 30 panel experts to determine which items were significant for inclusion in ORACLE. The collective data provided by the systematic review and Delphi survey was then used to further develop and modify ORACLE.

Phase Two:

The current study (Phase Two) aims to establish the psychometric validation, acceptability, and usability of the modified tool through formal testing on adult care home residents in Dorset. It consists of two streams of work: Stream A aims to establish the psychometric validation by completing the ORACLE assessments on adult care home residents. The assessments will be performed by the care home staff. In Stream B, a realist evaluation will be performed to explore the acceptability and usability of ORACLE with selected care home managers and staff who were involved in organising and completing the assessments on ORACLE respectively. The results from this two-phase design will then inform further revisions of the tool if required.

Medical subject headings
Contracture

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Observational Risk Assessment for Contractures: Longitudinal Evaluation (ORACLE)

    The primary outcome measure in this study will be the newly developed contracture risk assessment tool (ORACLE) to evaluate its validity, reliability and acceptability in care homes

    Measured: ORACLE (approx 10 minutes) will be administered thrice (twice by the same carer and once by a different carer) with a period of a 12-hour shift.

Secondary outcomes (1)
  1. Barthel Index

    Barthel index is a standard measure of physical disability and assessment of performance in activities of daily living. This will be used to evaluate the convergent validity of ORACLE.

    Measured: Barthel Index will be administered once (approx 10 minutes) in a 12 hour shift

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted21 Sep 2023
  2. Study start11 Sep 2023
  3. Primary completion10 Sep 2024
  4. Study completion1 Oct 2024

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Observational
Observational model
Other
Time perspective
Cross-sectional
Enrolment
224 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT06042907
Sponsor's protocol ID
45572
Status last verified
Nov 2024
First submitted
12 Sep 2023
Last updated
27 Nov 2024
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No

Publications

  • Bartoszek G, Fischer U, von Clarenau SC, Grill E, Mau W, Meyer G, Strobl R, Thiesemann R, Nadolny S, Muller M. Development of an International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF)-based standard set to describe the impact of joint contractures on participation of older individuals in geriatric care settings. Arch Gerontol Geriatr. 2015 Jul-Aug;61(1):61-6. doi: 10.1016/j.archger.2015.03.005. Epub 2015 Mar 25.

    PubMed 25937031
  • Born CT, Gil JA, Goodman AD. Joint Contractures Resulting From Prolonged Immobilization: Etiology, Prevention, and Management. J Am Acad Orthop Surg. 2017 Feb;25(2):110-116. doi: 10.5435/JAAOS-D-15-00697.

    PubMed 28027065
  • Fergusson D, Hutton B, Drodge A. The epidemiology of major joint contractures: a systematic review of the literature. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2007 Mar;456:22-9. doi: 10.1097/BLO.0b013e3180308456.

    PubMed 17179779
  • Forster A, Airlie J, Birch K, Cicero R, Cundill B, Ellwood A, Godfrey M, Graham L, Green J, Hulme C, Lawton R, McLellan V, McMaster N, Farrin A; REACH Programme Team. Research Exploring Physical Activity in Care Homes (REACH): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial. Trials. 2017 Apr 19;18(1):182. doi: 10.1186/s13063-017-1921-8.

    PubMed 28424088
  • Muller M, Fischer U, Bartoszek G, Grill E, Meyer G. Impact of joint contractures on functioning and social participation in older individuals--development of a standard set (JointConFunctionSet): study protocol. BMC Geriatr. 2013 Feb 21;13:18. doi: 10.1186/1471-2318-13-18.

    PubMed 23432774
  • Offenbacher M, Sauer S, Riess J, Muller M, Grill E, Daubner A, Randzio O, Kohls N, Herold-Majumdar A. Contractures with special reference in elderly: definition and risk factors - a systematic review with practical implications. Disabil Rehabil. 2014;36(7):529-38. doi: 10.3109/09638288.2013.800596. Epub 2013 Jun 17.

    PubMed 23772994
  • Skalsky AJ, McDonald CM. Prevention and management of limb contractures in neuromuscular diseases. Phys Med Rehabil Clin N Am. 2012 Aug;23(3):675-87. doi: 10.1016/j.pmr.2012.06.009.

    PubMed 22938881
  • Wagner LM, Clevenger C. Contractures in nursing home residents. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2010 Feb;11(2):94-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jamda.2009.04.010. Epub 2010 Jan 15.

    PubMed 20142063
  • Tariq H, Collins K, Tait D, Dunn J, Altaf S, Porter S. Factors associated with joint contractures in adults: a systematic review with narrative synthesis. Disabil Rehabil. 2023 Jun;45(11):1755-1772. doi: 10.1080/09638288.2022.2071480. Epub 2022 May 11.

    PubMed 35544581
  • Tariq H, Collins K, Dunn J, Tait D, Porter S. The Delphi of ORACLE: An Expert Consensus Survey for the Development of the Observational Risk Assessment of Contractures (Longitudinal Evaluation). Clin Rehabil. 2024 May;38(5):664-677. doi: 10.1177/02692155241229285. Epub 2024 Feb 8.

    PubMed 38332642

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

An observational study of Contracture and Joint Contracture, run by Bournemouth University at 8 sites in United Kingdom.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 1 inclusion and 1 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 27 Nov 2024. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 8 sites in United Kingdom. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Observational Risk Assessment for Contractures: Longitudinal Evaluation (ORACLE) (time frame: ORACLE (approx 10 minutes) will be administered thrice (twice by the same carer and once by a different carer) with a period of a 12-hour shift.). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT06042907, which also lists 10 linked publications.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 27 Nov 2024.

Free account

Log in to keep searching

You’ve used your 3 free searches. AzTrials is free: log in or create a free account to keep searching clinical trials and save the ones you want to follow.

Create a free accountLog in