Recruiting

IPT & GPT

Sponsor:

University of Alberta

Code:

NCT07055113

Conditions

Knee Osteoarthritis

Hip Osteoarthritis

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 0+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Individual-based Virtual Physical Therapy Program

Group-based Virtual Physical Therapy Program

Study Details

Brief summary:

People who live in rural areas and have hip or knee arthritis can have difficulty receiving physical therapy (PT) close to home. Living with hip or knee arthritis can make doing daily activities and being physically active difficult. This can lead to other health conditions, such as becoming overweight, or lessen enjoyment of life.

We will compare 2 programs that allow physical therapists to treat rural residents in their own home to each other and to usual care. Usual care is the care that is typically provided to people living with hip or knee arthritis.

For the first 12 weeks, participants will continue usual osteoarthritis (OA) care and then complete the standardized questionnaires again. Then, they will be randomized to either Individual (IPT) or Group-based PT (GPT).

Over 12-weeks, therapists will meet virtually with patients using Zoom so that patients and therapists can see each other. The program will be either a class or one-on-one with a therapist. In the class, participants will still receive private one-to-one time with the therapist using a Zoom 'breakout' room. Therapists in both groups will help patients do exercises correctly in their home. Patients can also see and talk to the therapists to discuss their challenges in living with OA and set personalized goals including pain management, participating in valued daily activities, keeping healthy (diet, sleep) and being active. Both programs will allow patients who sometimes cannot access physical therapy to receive care in their home.

Conditions

Knee Osteoarthritis

Hip Osteoarthritis

Study ID

NCT07055113

Start date

Jul 9, 2025

Status verified date

Aug, 2025

Completion date

Dec 31, 2028

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Dec 31, 2028

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 0+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patient with confirmed hip or knee OA, but deemed to not require total joint arthroplasty (i.e., not on the surgical waitlist)
  • Not currently be attending physiotherapy
  • Reside outside of Edmonton or nearby communities
  • English-speaking
  • with access to a Zoom-friendly device (smart phone, tablet, laptop).

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients who are not meeting the inclusion criteria are not eligible.

Study Design

Enrollment

270 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Health Services Research

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Individual Physical Therapy (IPT)

12-week virtual physical therapy that includes one-on-one visits with a physiotherapist.

experimental: Group-based Physical Therapy (GPT)

12-week virtual physical therapy that includes group classes (4-5 participants) with two physiotherapists. In each session, each participant will also have a 10-12 min one-on-one interaction with one of the physiotherapists.

Interventions

Individual-based Virtual Physical Therapy Program

Twelve-week virtual physical therapy that includes one-on-one visits with a physiotherapist.

Multi-modal Self-management program comprises:

  • Education to understand OA and its management: 'Understanding \& Managing OA'; 'Activity \& Exercise'; 'Managing Pain'; 'Healthy Eating'; 'Mental \& Emotional Well-being'; 'General Wellness'.
  • Personalized Goal Setting in partnership with therapist to promote patient activation.
  • Progressive neuro-muscular exercises of the core and lower extremity, customized to patient capacity with participants encouraged to perform exercises at least 2 times/week between PT sessions to improve strength and function; 2 levels of resistance bands will be provided to progress resistance.
  • Physical activity goals using FitBit step count, to increase daily activity as tolerated.

Group-based Virtual Physical Therapy Program

Twelve-week virtual physical therapy that includes group classes (4-5 participants) with two physiotherapists. In each session, each participant will also have a 10-12 min one-on-one interaction with one of the physiotherapists.

Multi-modal Self-management program comprises:

Education to understand OA and its management: 'Understanding \& Managing OA'; 'Activity \& Exercise'; 'Managing Pain'; 'Healthy Eating'; 'Mental \& Emotional Well-being'; 'General Wellness'.

Personalized Goal Setting in partnership with therapist to promote patient activation.

Progressive neuro-muscular exercises of the core and lower extremity, customized to patient capacity with participants encouraged to perform exercises at least 2 times/week between PT sessions to improve strength and function; 2 levels of resistance bands will be provided to progress resistance.

Physical activity goals using FitBit step count, to increase daily activity as tolerated.

Primary outcome measure

  • Patient Activation Measure (PAM) [ Time Frame: pre-usual care, pre-intervention, immediate post-intervention, 6-months post-intervention,12-months post-intervention ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Lauren Beaupre, PT, PhD

780-492-8626lauren.beaupre@ualberta.ca

Ailar Ramadi, PT, PhD

780-492-2398Ailar.Ramadi@albertahealthservices.ca

Locations

Edmonton Bone and Joint Centre

Recruiting

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Contacts

Teresa Peters, PT

780-377-1432tpeters@edmontonboneandjoint.ca

Principal Investigator:

Lauren Beaupre, PT, PhD

More Information

Sponsor

University of Alberta

Last update posted

Aug 26, 2025

Last verified

Aug, 2025

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-09. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by University of Alberta on 2025-08-26.