Study Recruitment

Principal Investigator: Professor Marius Henriksen, Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark 
Institution conducting the research: Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark 

Collaborators: 

• Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark (Drs. Tanja Schjødt Jørgensen, Cecilie Bartholdy, Thomas Bandholm and Mathias Ried-Larsen) 
• University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada (Drs. Lauren King and Esther Waugh)  
• University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia (Prof. Kim Bennell) 
• Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands (Drs. Jos Runhaar and Dieuwke Schiphof) 

What is the study about? 

Exercise and physical activity is important for a healthy life. However, many people with painful knee osteoarthritis have difficulties doing exercise and being physically active due to limitations caused by knee pain and other symptoms. But not all types of physical exercise limit all people, and many people ask for inspiration for ways of doing exercise despite having a painful knee. 

This study aims to generate a catalogue of exercise types that are "knee-friendly" based on inputs from a large number of people with knee osteoarthritis from across the world. The catalogue will serve as an inspiration for people with knee osteoarthritis who can find activities that people with similar traits have rated as knee friendly. 

This study is part of an international collaboration with surveys collected in Australia, Canada, Denmark and Holland. The research collaboration involves researchers from University of Melbourne, University of Toronto, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam and Copenhagen University Hospital. The research is funded by the Danish health insurance company Sygeforsikringen “danmark”. 

Who can participate? 

People with painful knee osteoarthritis who are interested in sharing their experiences and/or thoughts about doing physical exercises in a "knee-friendly" way. 

How do I know if I have knee osteoarthritis? 
If you have knee pain and your doctor has told you that you have osteoarthritis of the knee. 

 If you do not have a diagnosis from your doctor, you can participate if you 

• Are 45 years or older, and 
• Have knee pain with activity (e.g. walking, standing, exercising), and 
• Have either no morning knee joint stiffness or morning knee joint stiffness that lasts no longer than 30 minutes 

What will I have to do? 

This study consists of 3 phases 

PHASE 1: 

Initially you will be asked to complete a questionnaire regarding eligibility. 

Then, the survey will ask you to share your experiences and/or thoughts about physical exercises that you can imagine are feasible to engage in without provoking your knee symptoms to an unacceptable level. By unacceptable level, we mean that the exercise would cause symptoms that are severe and/or last for more than 24 hours. 

Please be aware that it can be OK to do physical exercise with some knee pain, but the knee pain should be no more than mild-to-moderate. It is well established that exercise will reduce knee pain over time. The survey will take approximately 30 minutes. 

PHASE 2: 

The experiences and thoughts generated by all the participants will collected in a list of exercises. This list will be reviewed by experts in osteoarthritis and exercise physiology and each proposed exercise will be labelled with a frequency, intensity and duration to meet the requirements for increasing health. 

PHASE 3: 

The list will then be returned to the participants (you) who now will rate the exercises for "knee friendliness" based on the additional information from the experts. To be part of this phase, we need your email address, which you can provide in phase 1. 

There is no in-person contact during this study. Consent, questionnaires, and list generation/review are completed online and via email contact. There are no known risks to participating in this study. 

What are the benefits to participating? 

By participating you may get inspired by other participants to try new exercise types that you may find fun and beneficial for your health. Your participation will also provide wider benefits to the community by providing important information on how people like you can exercise despite having painful knee osteoarthritis and thereby maintain a healthy and active lifestyle. 

Confidentiality: 

If you chose not to provide us with our email address in phase 1, you will remain 100 per cent anonymous, but cannot partake in Phase 3. 

Only information necessary to meet the scientific goals of this study will be collected. To ensure the security and confidentiality of electronic data, data collected online will be stored on a secure server located at the Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark. For security issues, information that is transmitted will be sent securely via encrypted HTTPS connection, preventing interception by a third party. 

Contact: 

You can contact the research group by sending us an email: exercise-catalogue.bispebjerg-frederiksberg-hospitaler@regionh.dk 

Study Aims: The INGAUGE team at the University of Manitoba, led by Dr. Roberta Woodgate, is currently running a research study ‘Advancing Patient-Centered Care in Young People Living with Chronic Pain’. The research study aims to detail the experiences, needs and preferred outcomes of young people with chronic pain and to co-design and evaluate arts-based knowledge translation products. 

Eligibility & Participation: We are currently looking for young people aged 13-21 years old, with lived experience of chronic pain (recurrent or persistent pain that has lasted at least 3 months) to participate in the study. Participation will involve one-on-one virtual (e.g., Zoom) interviews, a photography activity and the creation of arts-based products. The information from this study will be kept private and confidential (i.e., no one outside the researchers will know if you’ve participated and/or what you’ve said) and will be used to help us better support youth living with chronic pain.

There are no foreseeable risks to participating in this study and should any questions or activities make you uncomfortable, you are free to stop at any time with no consequence. Each phase of the study will take about 1-2 hours and to say thank you for your time, an honorarium will be provided. The study is currently running and will continue into mid-2024. Participants can live anywhere in Canada.

Contact Details: If you are interested in participating, or would like further information before deciding, please contact ingauge@umanitoba.ca or 204-481-4994. When emailing, please specify you are interested in the study on chronic pain.

Are you a patient or do you have patients with rheumatoid arthritis in Northern Ontario? We would like to chat with you about your experiences! 

We are doing a qualitative study talking by telephone or by videoconferencing, to patients, family physicians, pharmacists, and rheumatologists about access to care and experiences with having, or treating, rheumatoid arthritis. 

Study funding: Northern Ontario Academic Medicine Association.  

Patients Needed: 8 adult patients who currently live in Northeastern Ontario (NEO) and 8 who currently live in Northwestern Ontario (NWO), who were diagnosed with RA, by a rheumatologist. The interview will take about 45 minutes. Patients must have a telephone, cell phone, or reliable internet connection.

Family Physicians: 3 who currently practice in NEO and 3 in NWO who have had patients diagnosed with RA, by a rheumatologist. The interview will take about 30 minutes.

Pharmacists: 3 who currently practice in NEO and 3 in NWO who have patients diagnosed with RA, by a rheumatologist. At least one should have experience with providing low-dose naltrexone. The interview will take about 30 minutes.

Rheumatologists: 1 who currently practices in NEO and 1 in NWO with RA patients. Two rheumatologists who currently practice in Southern Ontario with RA patients are also needed. The interview will take about 30 minutes.
THANK YOU!

For more information or to express interest, please email: smongeau@hsnsudbury.ca

Each participant will receive $110 for agreeing to participate.

Recruitment Start: June 14, 2022, Recruitment End: May 30, 2023. Host Institution: NOSM University.

Investigators
Dr. Lihi Eder

Research host institution
Women’s College Hospital

Background
Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is an inflammatory arthritis that affects 1 in 400 Canadians and can lead to significant joint damage and disability. Despite the availability of effective medications many patients continue to experience debilitating joint pain and stiffness that have significant impact of their quality of life. Patients often seek information about diets to assist with improving their symptoms. However, little is known about the effect of different dietary patterns on disease activity in PsA.

Purpose of the study
The purpose of this study is to investigate whether changes to diet could improve symptoms of Psoriatic Arthritis

Eligibility criteria
Individuals are eligible if fulfilling the following:

• Age 18-80

• Diagnosed with Psoriatic Arthritis

• Stable on treatment for at least 3 months

• BMI: 25-40

• Additional criteria may apply

Participation details
For a 6 months period participants will be asked to alter their diet (according to a consultation by a dietitian), visit to Women’s College Hospital in Toronto 3 times, provide blood, stool and urine samples, complete questionnaires, expect intermittent text messages and phone calls and report dietary intake several times.

Participants will be reimbursed for their participation in the study (up to $260, and food gifts or gift-cards for an equal value).

Confidentiality protocols
nformation collected as part of this study will be kept confidential and will be protected at all times during and after the study. It will only be accessed by the research team members for research purposes. Only de-identified information will be transferred to the coordinating site of this study that is located in the University of Pennsylvania.

Geographic location
Toronto, Ontario.

Recruitment start and end date
Recruitment Started in February 2021 and is anticipated to continue until February 2023.

Principal investigators: Debbie Feldman, PhD, Université de Montréal, Sasha Bernatsky, MD PhD, Université McGill, Linda Woodhouse, PhD, University of Alberta 

Project description and objectives: Our project, funded by the Canadian Initiative for Outcomes in Rheumatology Care (CIORA) of the Canadian Rheumatology Association focuses on the identification process by physiotherapists of newly affected patients with  inflammatory arthritis and the consequences of rapid referral of these patients to rheumatology care. The purpose of the focus groups is to explore how to facilitate appropriate referrals in rheumatology and optimize the care of a patient with inflammatory arthritis. The focus group will be composed of 4-8 patients and the main goal is to help optimize patient care in inflammatory arthritis. 

If you are interested in further details about this research, please contact Tatiana Rodriguez, Tatiana.orozco.rodriguez@gmail.com. 

Read the Invitation

Project title: Job Demands and Accommodation Planning Tool (JDAPT) Evaluation Survey

Research Team info: Project lead: Dr. Monique Gignac, Scientific Co-Director and a Senior Scientist at the Institute for Work & Health (IWH), and a Professor at the University of Toronto. 

Research Host Institution: Institute for Work & Health

Background: The Accommodating and Communicating about Episodic Disabilities (ACED) partnership is conducting research to develop new tools and resources to help people living with chronic physical or mental health conditions causing episodic disability to better remain employed.

Purpose of Study: The ACED team would like your help. We have completed the development of the first part of the ACED toolkit, the Job Demands and Accommodation Planning Tool (JDAPT). The JDAPT helps a person living with a physical or mental health condition identify job demands relevant to their work and asks about any health-related difficulties or challenges with those job demands. It then provides the user with a personalized list of potential work supports and accommodation ideas.

We want to understand whether this tool is helpful and meets the different health needs and job experiences of people working with an episodic disability.
 
We need your help! We invite you to participate in the evaluation study of the JDAPT tool. 

If you are currently:
•    Working in paid employment for 20 or more hours a week, and are
•    interested in learning about or using different types of work supports and accommodations

What's involved:
•    Completing an online questionnaire about you, your work, and your health 
•    Using the JDAPT tool and responding to some questions about the tool
•    Completing two follow-up questionnaires – one three months after using the JDAPT and another questionnaire nine months later to help us learn about your use of the tool

Eligibility Criteria:
Inclusion criteria

• 18 years of age and older (born before 2005)
• Resident in Canada
• Living with a chronic physical or mental health condition that has made working difficult at least some of the time during the past 3 months
• Currently employed by someone else for pay
• Working at least 20 hours per week at one place of employment

Exclusion criteria

• Not currently employed (e.g., retired, homemakers, looking for work, on short- or long-term disability)
• Self-employed
• Working less than 20 hours/week at their primary job
• Planning to retire or take an extended leave (e.g., parental leave) within the next three months

The JDAPT is not a good fit for your situation:

• Do not think learning about supports or accommodations would be helpful
• Do not think you would use supports or accommodations to manage your health and work
• Feel that you already have access to all the work supports or accommodations you need at your current job

Participation Details:
To thank you for your time, participants will receive a total of $100.00 in three installments. You will receive a $30 honorarium after completing the first questionnaire and the JDAPT tool. You will receive $35 for each of the two follow-up questionnaires. 

Confidentiality Protocols:
Participation in this research is completely voluntary. Your answers to the questionnaires will be confidential. Information that can identify you (like your name or identifying details) will be removed from your responses before they are analysed and will not be included in reports or publications about the study. All study data will be kept separate from the information that can identify you and will be kept in a secure location at the Institute for Work & Health. In order to receive your honorarium, you will need to provide the study coordinator with your name and an address where your cheque can be mailed. This information will be kept separate from your questionnaire responses.Only research team members will have access to the data.

Geographic location:
Resident of Canada

Recruitment start and end dates:
Feb. 7, 2022 – Jan. 31, 2023

Contact information:
Please click here to learn more or join the study: https://aced.iwh.on.ca/get-involved|

If you have questions about the study, please contact the ACED Study team at the Institute for Work & Health.

ACED Partnership Project
Institute for Work & Health
E-mail: aced@iwh.on.ca|

This study has been reviewed and approved by the University of Toronto Human Research Ethics Program (Protocol #41940). If you have any questions about the ethical oversight of this study, please contact the Research Oversight and Compliance Office - Human Research Ethics Program (University of Toronto) at ethics.review@utoronto.ca or 416-946-3273.

Project Title: The safety and efficacy of genicular radiofrequency ablation for patients with persistent knee pain following total knee arthroplasty

Study Investigators: Dr. Robert Burnham, Dr. Ashley Smith, Dr. Taylor Burnham, and Dr. David Hart 

Research Host Institutions: Vivo Cura Health (Calgary, Alberta), the CAPRI clinic (Lacombe, Alberta), and the University of Calgary. 

Background: Unfortunately, 15-30% of people receiving total knee joint arthroplasty (TKA) continue to experience knee pain, reduced quality of life and functional impairment and have few available treatment options. Genicular radiofrequency ablation (GRFA) has been described, refined, and validated as an effective minimally invasive intervention to treat refractory knee osteoarthritis. It has not been thoroughly examined in people following TKA. 

Purpose of Study: To determine the safety and efficacy of GRFA in patients with failed TKA.

Eligibility Criteria: 

• > 50 years old

• 1+ years since total knee replacement

• At least 4/10 average knee pain intensity

• No response to conventional treatment

• Successful response to ‘freezing’ of the nerves around the knee

Participation Details: Participants will be enrolled in active or sham GRFA. Possible risks include bruising, swelling, as well as more uncommon complications such as infection, skin burns, and lower leg weakness, or numbness. Participants will be required to complete a series of questionnaires to evaluate pain, disability, function, and quality of life. These will be repeated again 6-months later. Participants will be followed for 12-months.

Confidentiality Protocols: All information collected about participants will be kept under strict confidentiality. 

Recruitment start and end dates: 
May 2022 - April 2023 

Contact Information: 
Jennifer Laxshimalla, BSc. Clinical Research Coordinator Vivo Cura Health
(403) 265-3838 ext. 2100
research@vivocura.ca.