Personalised exercise therapy and self-management support for people with multimorbidity: feasibility of the MOBILIZE intervention

Abstract Background Exercise therapy is safe and effective in people with single conditions, but the feasibility in people with two or more conditions is unclear. Therefore, the aim was to evaluate the feasibility of exercise therapy and self-management in people with multimorbidity prior to a randomised, controlled trial (RCT). Methods This was a mixed-methods feasibility study performed in two general hospitals and one psychiatric hospital. 20 adult patients (8 females; mean age (SD) 67 (6.9)) with at least two long-term conditions and a score of ≥ 3 on Disease Burden Impact Scale for at least one condition (at least moderate limitations of daily activities) and of ≥ 2 for at least one other condition. Patients with unstable health conditions, at risk of serious adverse events (SAE) or with terminal conditions were excluded. Participants received 12 weeks of exercise (18 60-min group-based and 6 home-based sessions) and self-management support (6 90-min group-based sessions) supervised by physiotherapists. Pre-defined progression to RCT criteria were the primary outcomes and included recruitment rate (acceptable 20 participants in 3 months), retention through follow-up (75% retention), compliance (75% complete > 9 of exercise and > 3 self-management sessions), outcome burden (80% do not find outcomes too burdensome), improvement in quality of life (EQ-5D-5L) and function (6-min walk test; ≥ 50% experience clinically relevant improvements) and intervention-related SAEs (No SAEs). Furthermore, a purposeful sample including eleven participants and two facilitators were interviewed about their experiences of participating/facilitating. Qualitative data was analysed using thematic analysis. Results Recruitment rate (20 in 49 days), retention (85%), outcome burden (95%), and SAEs (0 related to intervention) were acceptable, while compliance (70%) and improvements (35% in quality of life, 46% in function) were not (amendment needed before proceeding to RCT). The intervention was found acceptable by both participants and physiotherapists with some barriers among participants relating to managing multiple chronic conditions while caring for others or maintaining a job. Physiotherapists expressed a need for additional training. Conclusions Exercise therapy and self-management are feasible in people with multimorbidity. The subsequent RCT, amending the intervention according to progression criteria and feedback, will determine whether the intervention is superior to usual care alone. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov registration: NCT04645732 Open Science Framework https://osf.io/qk6yg

Personalised exercise therapy and self-management support for people with multimorbidity: Development of the MOBILIZE intervention

Abstract Background To our knowledge, there is no intervention which includes personalised exercise therapy and self-management support for people with multimorbidity, although these interventions may be as effective as for people with single chronic conditions. Therefore, we developed a novel intervention, including personalised exercise therapy and self-management support for people with multimorbidity. Methods We followed the Medical Research Council framework and conducted one scoping review, five systematic reviews, two registry-based studies, one qualitative interview study and a mixed-methods feasibility study. Following an iterative approach, together with feedback from people with multimorbidity and relevant stakeholders, we developed the MOBILIZE intervention. Results The intervention included 24 (60 minutes) sessions of personalised exercise therapy and 24 (30 minutes) sessions of self-management support twice a week for 12 weeks, delivered in small groups by specifically trained physiotherapists. The intervention targets physiological, psychosocial, behavioural, and contextual factors to improve health-related quality of life and physical function in people living with multimorbidity. Conclusions We developed a personalised exercise therapy and self-management support programme for people with multimorbidity. The intervention will be tested for its safety and effectiveness in a randomised controlled trial

Patient Voice: Living with multiple chronic conditions, how exercise helps me self-manage

Patient voice by Gregers Aagaard. Published in Br J Sports Med . 2021 Sep 7; bjsports-2021-104382. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2021-10438

MOBILIZE

The aim of the MOBILIZE project is to empower patients with multimorbidity to take a more active role in their health care through a personalized exercise therapy and education program so that they may reduce symptoms of the individual conditions, increase quality of life and physical function and prevent development of other chronic conditions. Strong interdisciplinary collaboration involving many different scientific methodologies and a high degree of patient involvement throughout the entire research process are at the heart of the project to ensure relevance to the patients and the health care system and to make sure that the project is implementable in clinical practice afterwards. The MOBILIZE project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement No 801790)

Benefits and Harms of Interventions With Surgery Compared to Interventions Without Surgery for Musculoskeletal Conditions : A Systematic Review With Meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the benefits and harms of interventions with and without surgery for musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions. DESIGN: Intervention systematic review with meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). LITERATURE SEARCH: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Web of Science, and CENTRAL, all up to January 7, 2021. STUDY SELECTION CRITERIA: RCTs (English, German, Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian) of interventions with and without surgery conducted in any setting for any non-fracture MSK condition in adults (mean age: 18+ years) evaluating the outcomes on a continuous (benefits) or count (harms) scale. Outcomes were pain, self-reported physical function, quality of life, serious adverse events (SAEs), and death at 1 year. DATA SYNTHESIS: Random-effects metaanalyses for MSK conditions where there were data from at least 2 trials. RESULTS: One hundred RCTs (n = 12 645 patients) across 28 different conditions at 9 body sites were included. For 9 out of 13 conditions with data on pain (exceptions include some spine conditions), 11 out of 11 for function, and 9 out of 9 for quality of life, there were no clinically relevant differences (standardized mean difference of 0.50 or above) between interventions with and without surgery. For 13 out of 16 conditions with data on SAEs and 16 out of 16 for death, there were no differences in harms. Only 6 trials were at low risk of bias. CONCLUSION: The low certainty of evidence does not support recommending surgery over nonsurgical alternatives for most MSK conditions with available RCTs. Further high-quality RCTs may change this conclusion

Mapping interventional components and behaviour change techniques used to promote self-management in people with multimorbidity: a scoping review

Ageing populations and improved survival, have contributed to a rise in the number of people living with multimorbidity, raising issues related to polypharmacy, treatment burden, competing priorities and poor coordination of care. Self-management programs are increasingly included as an essential component of interventions to improve outcomes in this population. However, an overview of how interventions supporting self-management in patients with multimorbidity is missing. This scoping review focused on mapping the literature on patient-centered interventions for people living with multimorbidity. We searched several databases, clinical registries, and grey literature for RCTs published between 1990–2019 describing interventions that supported self-management in people with multimorbidity. We included 72 studies that were found to be very heterogeneous when it comes to the population, delivery modes and modalities, intervention elements and facilitators. The results pointed to an extensive use of cognitive behavioral therapy as a basis for interventions, as well as behavior change theories and disease management frameworks. The most coded behavior change techniques stemmed from the categories Social Support, Feedback and monitoring and Goals and Planning. To allow for implementation of effective interventions in clinical practice, improved reporting of intervention mechanisms in RCTs is warranted