ONGOING PROJECTS
Physiotherapy and Biomechanics Research Unit
This study aims at measuring gait ataxia associated with opioid intake. Patients with knee OA and age matched healthy volunteers will be recruited and are required to meet for 3 all-day assessments. Measurements of gait ataxia (gait variability) will be recorded in the gait laboratory before and every hour for 6 hours after intake of two different kinds of opioids or placebo. The order of opioid/placebo is randomised. Further, the autonomous regulation of pulse and blood pressure is assessed every hour together with self-reported pain and dizziness, and a blood sample to estimate plasma concentrations of the active opioid.
We developed the Dynamic weight-bearing Assessment of Pain (DAP), a performance measure with integrated pain evaluation. The DAP is based on input from both patients and health professionals, ensuring the content validity and clinical relevance of the performance in the test (weight-bearing knee bends). Acceptable reproducibility of the DAP has been established in a population of people with mild knee OA, but other psychometric properties remain to be tested, including feasibility and interpretability in a clinical setting. The objectives to this study are to evaluate the feasibility of the DAP for patients with knee OA in clinical physiotherapy practice, and to investigate the interpretability of the DAP for patients with knee OA in clinical physiotherapy practice by estimating a cut-off score for a minimum clinically important change.
The Dynamic weight-bearing Assessment of Pain (DAP) for knee osteoarthritis is designed to measure pain during a specified function. It is a simple performance test (30 seconds of deep knee bends from a standing position), with subsequent pain rating on an 11 point numeric scale (0 = no pain, 10 = worst pain). Acceptable reliability, agreement and smallest detectable change of the DAP have been established. The objectives of this study is to estimate the construct (discriminative) validity, responsiveness and interpretability of the DAP.
Imaging Unit
Investigators
Elisabeth Bandak, Marius Henriksen, Mikael Boesen
Summary
In patients with knee OA retrospective data on Dynamic Contrast Enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) of the thigh and knee, systemic markers (blood samples, synovial fluids), assessments of mobility (muscle strength, Six-minute walk test, and biomechanical gait analysis) will be analyzed. Further, patient reported outcomes on pain, symptoms, and physical function in patients is acquired using questionnaires are available and will be included in the analyses.