NCT05276180

Evaluation of Interventions for Safe Patient Handling and Movement in the Healthcare Sector

Completed NA Last updated 27 November 2024

What this trial tests

NA trial testing Arm A) Multifactorial intervention strategy in Occupational Health in 2,060 participants. Completed in 30 April 2024.

Timeline

1 February 2023

Primary endpoint
15 March 2024

30 April 2024

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	Region Östergötland
Phase	NA
Status	Completed
Study type	INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation	randomized
Design	parallel
Masking	none
Primary purpose	prevention
Enrollment	2,060
Start date	1 February 2023
Primary completion	15 March 2024
Estimated completion	30 April 2024
Sites	1 location across Sweden

Drugs / interventions tested

• Arm A) Multifactorial intervention strategy
• Arm B) Single intervention strategy

Conditions studied

• Occupational Health — all drugs for Occupational Health →

Sponsor

Region Östergötland

Who can join

Adults 18 to 67, any sex, with Occupational Health. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

There are several situations in the workplace in which both healthcare workers and patients are at risk of injury. Frequent patient transfers, heavy lifting and patient mobilization are proven risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders among healthcare workers. Falls and patient transfers are frequently reported causes of patient injuries. Swedish occupational safety and health legislation and the Patient Safety Act require employers to provide good, safe care and to conduct risk assessments to prevent risks and injuries in the healthcare sector. It has been suggested that a combination of workplace interventions is needed to facilitate safe patient handling and movement and to prevent musculoskeletal disorders and injuries among healthcare workers and patients.

The main aim of the cluster randomized and controlled trial (RCT) is to evaluate a multifactorial intervention strategy that includes risk assessment instruments as well as guidelines and training. This strategy will be compared with a single intervention strategy for safe patient handling and movement in workplaces in the Swedish regional and municipal healthcare system. All healthcare workers in the care units recruited to this RCT will be invited to participate. The study will evaluate the intervention strategies with regard to primary outcome measures given equal priority according to a hybrid 2 design of the RCT. These are: 1) the implementation process (acceptability, appropriateness and feasibility), here called the implementation outcome, and 2) the effect of the applied strategies (measured with regard to the workplace safety climate and additional questions about safety for patient handling and movement), here called intervention effectiveness.

This RCT is part of the Swedish Patient and Workers Safety Study (PAWSS). The aim of the PAWSS project is to contribute to a regional and municipal healthcare that is evidence-based and organized for both patient safety and a safe working environment for healthcare workers. The long-term goal is to facilitate safe patient handling and movement practices which prevent both care injuries and work injuries.

Publications & conference data

2 peer-reviewed publications reference this trial (live from Europe PMC):

1. Evaluation of the implementation and effectiveness of a multifactorial intervention strategy for safe patient handling and movement in the healthcare sector: a study protocol of a cluster randomised controlled trial.
   Wåhlin C, Buck S, Sandqvist J, Enthoven P, et al · · 2023 · cited 3× · PMID 36737081 · DOI 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-067693
2. Perceived health, musculoskeletal disorders, work conditions and safety climate in relation to patient handling and movement - a multicentre cross-sectional study at healthcare workplaces.
   Wåhlin C, Sandqvist J, Enthoven P, Buck S, et al · · 2025 · PMID 41239349 · DOI 10.1186/s12891-025-09330-3