Increasing the activity of older people with long-term pain

Disease - Knee pain, back pain, hip pain

Lead applicant - Dr Clare Jinks

Organisation - Keele University

Type of grant - Clinical Studies

Status of grant - Active

Amount of the original award - £626,115

Start date - 1 July 2018

Reference - 21763

Public Summary

What are the aims of this research?

The aim of this research is to find out if a walking programme (iPOPP) will encourage people over the age of 65, with joint pain, to be more active.

Why is this research important?

People are living longer, which means that conditions like arthritis and joint pain, which are common in older age groups, are having an increased impact on people’s health. Previous research has shown physical activity can reduce the amount of pain people have in their joints, but many people in older age groups find it hard to be active. Walking has shown to be an acceptable activity for older people, so by working with people suffering from joint pain and healthcare staff, a walking intervention programme has been developed.

People on the programme will have two consultations with a healthcare assistant, be given a pedometer, a pain toolkit, a diary and sent motivational prompts. A smaller study has already been carried out to assess how easy the programme is to deliver and how well received it was. Now, a much larger study will assess the effects of the programme including the cost implications of any health benefits.

How will the findings benefit patients?

It is anticipated that increasing physical activity levels in older people with long-term joint pain will have several benefits for patients' physical and mental health, including less pain and greater physical function, improved mental health, and overall quality of life. This study hopes to show that the iPOPP walking programme will help deliver these results.