TY - JOUR A1 - Regauer, Verena A1 - Seckler, Eva A1 - Grill, Eva A1 - Ippisch, Richard A1 - Jahn, Klaus A1 - Bauer, Petra A1 - Müller, Martin T1 - Development of a complex intervention to improve mobility and participation of older people with vertigo, dizziness and balance disorders in primary care: a mixed methods study JF - BMC Family Practice N2 - Background Vertigo, dizziness and balance disorders (VDB) are common in older people and cause restrictions in mobility and social participation. Due to a multifactorial aetiology, health care is often overutilised, but many patients are also treated insufficiently in primary care. The purpose of this study was to develop a care pathway as a complex intervention to improve mobility and participation in older people with VDB in primary care. Methods The development process followed the UK Medical Research Council guidance using a mixed-methods design with individual and group interviews carried out with patients, physical therapists (PTs), general practitioners (GPs), nurses working in community care and a multi-professional expert panel to create a first draft of a care pathway (CPW) and implementation strategy using the Consolidated Framework of Implementation Research and the Expert recommendations for Implementing Change. Subsequently, small expert group modelling of specific components of the CPW was carried out, with GPs, medical specialists and PTs. The Behaviour Change Wheel was applied to design the intervention´s approach to behaviour change. To derive theoretical assumptions, we adopted Kellogg´s Logic Model to consolidate the hypothesized chain of causes leading to patient-relevant outcomes. Results Individual interviews with patients showed that VDB symptoms need to be taken more seriously by GPs. Patients demanded age-specific treatment offers, group sessions or a continuous mentoring by a PT. GPs required a specific guideline for diagnostics and treatment options including psychosocial interventions. Specific assignment to and a standardized approach during physical therapy were desired by PTs. Nurses favoured a multi-professional documentation system. The structured three-day expert workshop resulted in a first draft of CPW and potential implementation strategies. Subsequent modelling resulted in a CPW with components and appropriate training materials for involved health professionals. A specific implementation strategy is now available. Conclusion A mixed-methods design was suggested to be a suitable approach to develop a complex intervention and its implementation strategy. We will subsequently test the intervention for its acceptability and feasibility in a feasibility study accompanied by a comprehensive process evaluation to inform a subsequent effectiveness trial. Trial Registration The research project is registered in “Projektdatenbank Versorgungsforschung Deutschland” (Project-ID: VfD_MobilE-PHY_17_003910; date of registration: 30.11.2017). KW - Critical Pathways KW - Implementation Science KW - Primary Health Care KW - Aged KW - Vertigo KW - Dizziness KW - General Practitioners KW - Physical Therapy Modalities Y1 - 2021 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12875-021-01441-9 VL - 22 SP - 89 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bartoszek, Gabriele A1 - Fischer, Uli A1 - Clarmann von Clarenau, Stephan A1 - Grill, Eva A1 - Mau, Wilfried A1 - Meyer, Gabriele A1 - Strobl, Ralf A1 - Thiesemann, Rüdiger A1 - Nadolny, Stephan A1 - Müller, Martin ED - Science direct, T1 - Development of an International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF)-based standard set to describe the impact of joint contractures on participation of older individuals in geriatric care settings JF - Archives of gerontology and geriatrics N2 - Introduction Joint contractures are characterized as impairment of the physiological movement of joints due to deformity, disuse or pain and have major impact especially for older individuals in geriatric care. Some measures for the assessment of the impact of joint contractures exist. However, there is no consensus on which aspects should constantly be measured. Our objective was to develop a standard-set based on the ICF for describing functioning and disability in older individuals with joint contractures in geriatric care settings, giving special emphasis to activities and participation. Methods The ICF-based standard set was developed in a formal decision-making and consensus process and based on an adapted version of the protocol to develop ICF Core Sets. These are sets of categories from the ICF, serving as standards for the assessment, communication and reporting of functioning and health for clinical studies, clinical encounters and multi-professional comprehensive assessment and management. Results Twenty-three experts from Germany and Switzerland selected 105 categories of the ICF component Activities and Participation for the ICF-based standard set. The largest number of categories was selected from the chapter Mobility (50 categories, 47.6%). Conclusions The standard set for older individuals with joint contractures provides health professionals with a standard for describing patients’ activity limitations and participation restrictions. The standard set also provides a common basis for the development of patient-centered measures and intervention programs. The preliminary version of the ICF-based standard set will be tested in subsequent studies with regard to its psychometric properties. KW - joint contracture KW - older people KW - activities of daily living KW - social participation Y1 - 2015 VL - 61 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Grill, Eva A1 - Müller, Martin A1 - Mansmann, Ulrich ED - Springer Verlag, T1 - Health-exploring complexity: an interdisciplinary systems approach HEC 2016 JF - European journal of epidemiology N2 - Health is a complex process with potentially interacting components from the molecular to the societal and environmental level. Adequate research designs and data analysis methods are needed to improve our understanding of this complexity, to ultimately derive high quality evidence to inform patients, health professionals, and health policy decision makers. Also, effective patient-centred health care has to address the complexity of health, functioning, and disability, not only by implementing interventions, but also by using information technologythatrepresentsthecomplexityofhealthcaretoinformallactors. Given this background, we developed the concept of our conference HEC2016 as an interdisciplinary European event in beautiful Bavaria, in the city of Mu ¨nchen. Quite ironically this is the place, where William of Ockham, whose ideas of parsimony are the very opposite of complexity, accused of heresy, spent 17 years under the protection of the Bavarian King Ludwig IV. Furthermore, our local public health hero Max von Pettenkofer (1818–1901) contributed a lot to the basic systemic understanding of health, especially the relevance of a healthy environment. Under the joint theme of health as a complex system we joined the activities of five scientific disciplines: Medical Informatics, Medical Biometry, Bioinformatics, Epidemiology and Health Data Management. The mission behind this interdisciplinary effort was to serve as an important scientific forum for the exchange of new ideas and applications to strengthen health sciences on a national and international level. The analysis of health as a complex system opens needed perspectives on a challenging reality: filtering current hypotheses, resolving controversies, and tailoring interventions to the need of the individual within a health system environment. The conference encouraged the dialogue of the disciplines in order to advance our understanding of health and to decrease burden of disease. HEC2016 brought together the annual conferences of the German Association for Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology (GMDS), the German Society for Epidemiology (DGEpi), the International Epidemiological Association- European Region (IEA-EEF) and the European Federation for Medical Informatics Association (EFMI, MIE 2016). HEC2016 took place in Mu ¨nchen, Germany, in the main building of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universita ¨t (LMU) from 28 August to 2 September 2016 under the auspices of the Institute for MedicalInformationProcessing,BiometryandEpidemiologyofLMU. The conference received 832 contributions for oral and poster presentation (Table 1). Fourteen percent of them were from outside Europe with the largest group of 10 % from Asia (Table 2). Scientific program committees and reviewers selected 408 submissions as oral contributions and 303 for poster presentations. The program was surrounded by twelve tutorials held by international renowned scientists and covered a broad spectrum from innovative biostatistical and epidemiological methods to tutorials in application of innovative software, scientific writing and data protection issues. Over 50 panel discussions and workshops allowed in-depth exchange of ideas on specific topics and underscored the interactive nature of HEC2016. A special focus of HEC2016 was on the promotion of young scientists from all disciplines whose participation was supported by numerous travel grants. We would like to express our deepest gratitude to all the colleagues who supported us as speakers, committee members and reviewers, lent us a hand before, during and after the conference, gave critical but friendly comments at all stages of the preparations, supported us by providing coffee, audience or Butterbrezen, and specifically to those who submitted contributions to the conference and attended the conference and its many tutorials, lectures and sessions. We extend our gratitude to the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft for generous financial support (grant no. GR 3608/4-1). Last not least we would like to thank our families who allowed us to spend most of our weekends with organizing this conference, to William of Ockham for lending us his razor (from time to time) and to Max von Pettenkofer for guidance. KW - Health Y1 - 2016 IS - 31 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Klingshirn, Hanna A1 - Müller, Martin A1 - Beutner, Katrin A1 - Hirt, Julian A1 - Strobl, Ralf A1 - Grill, Eva A1 - Meyer, Gabriele A1 - Saal, Susanne T1 - Implementation of a complex intervention to improve participation in older people with joint contractures living in nursing homes: a process evaluation of a cluster-randomised pilot trial JF - BMC Geriatrics N2 - Background Joint contractures in frail older people are associated with serious restrictions in participation. We developed the Participation Enabling CAre in Nursing (PECAN) intervention, a complex intervention to enable nurses to promote participation in nursing home residents with joint contractures. The aim of this study was to examine the feasibility of the implementation strategy and to identify enablers and barriers for a successful implementation. Methods The implementation of PECAN was investigated in a 6-month pilot cluster-randomised controlled trial (c-RCT). As a key component of the implementation strategy, nominated nurses were trained as facilitators in a one-day workshop and supported by peer-mentoring (visit, telephone counselling). A mixed-methods approach was conducted in conjunction with the pilot trial and guided by a framework for process evaluations of c-RCTs. Data were collected using standardised questionnaires (nursing staff), documentation forms, problem-centred qualitative interviews (facilitators, therapists, social workers, relatives, peer-mentors), and a group discussion (facilitators). A set of predefined criteria on the nursing home level was examined. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics. Qualitative data were analysed using directed content analysis. Results Seven nursing homes (n = 4 intervention groups, n = 3 control groups) in two regions of Germany took part in the study. Facilitators responded well to the qualification measures (workshop participation: 14/14; workshop rating: “good”; peer-mentor visit participation: 10/14). The usage of peer-mentoring via telephone varied (one to seven contacts per nursing home). Our implementation strategy was not successful in connection with supplying the intervention to all the nurses. The clear commitment of the entire nursing home and the respect for the expertise of different healthcare professionals were emphasised as enablers, whereas a lack of impact on organisational conditions and routines and a lack of time and staff competence were mentioned as barriers. Conclusion The PECAN intervention was delivered as planned to the facilitators but was unable to produce comprehensive changes in the nursing homes and subsequently for the residents. Strategies to systematically include the management and the nursing team from the beginning are needed to support the facilitators during implementation in the main trial. Trial registration German clinical trials register, DRKS00010037. Registered 12 February 2016. KW - Joint contractures KW - Nursing homes KW - Participation KW - Complex intervention KW - Cluster-randomised controlled trials KW - Pilot study KW - Implementation strategy KW - Process evaluation Y1 - 2020 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-020-01655-z VL - 20 SP - 270 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Saal, Susanne A1 - Klingshirn, Hanna A1 - Beutner, Katrin A1 - Strobl, Ralf A1 - Grill, Eva A1 - Müller, Martin A1 - Meyer, Gabriele T1 - Improved participation of older people with joint contractures living in nursing homes: feasibility of study procedures in a cluster-randomised pilot trial JF - Trials N2 - Background: Acquired joint contractures have a significant impact on functioning and quality of life in nursing home residents. There is very limited evidence on measures for prevention and treatment of disability due to joint contractures. We have developed the PECAN intervention (Participation Enabling CAre in Nursing) to improve social participation in nursing home residents. A cluster-randomised pilot trial was conducted to assess the feasibility of study procedures in preparation for a main trial according to the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) framework. Methods: Nursing homes in two regions of Germany were randomly allocated either to the intervention or optimised standard care (control group). All residents with joint contractures aged > 65 years were eligible for the study. The residents’ data were collected through structured face-to-face interviews by blinded assessors at baseline, after 3 and 6 months. The primary outcome was social participation, measured by a subscale of the PaArticular Scales. Secondary outcomes included activities and instrumental activities of daily living, health-related quality of life, falls and fall-related consequences. Data on the trial feasibility were collected via documentation forms. Results: Seven out of 12 nursing homes agreed to participate and remained in the trial. Of 265 residents who fulfilled the inclusion criteria, 129 were randomised either to the intervention (n = 64) or control group (n = 65) and analysed. A total of 109 (85%) completed the trial after 6 months. The mean age was 85.7 years (SD 7.0), 80% were women. The severity of the residents’ disability differed across the clusters. The completion rate was high (> 95%), apart from the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale. Some items of the PaArticular Scales were not easily understood by residents. The frequency of falls did not differ between study groups. Conclusion: Our data confirmed the feasibility of the overall study design. We also revealed the need to improve the procedures for the recruitment of residents and for data collection before implementation into a main trial. The next step will be an adequately powered main trial to assess the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the intervention. KW - Joint contractures KW - Nursing homes KW - Participation KW - Complex intervention KW - Cluster-randomised pilot trial KW - Feasibility trial Y1 - 2019 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-019-3522-1 VL - 20 SP - 411 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Saal, Susanne A1 - Beutner, Katrin A1 - Bogunski, Julia A1 - Obermüller, Kathrin A1 - Müller, Martin A1 - Grill, Eva A1 - Meyer, Gabriele ED - Oxford Academic, T1 - Interventions for the prevention and treatment of disability due to acquired joint contractures in older people: a systematic review JF - Age and Ageing N2 - Background acquired joint contractures have significant effects on quality of life and functioning. Objective to determine the effects of interventions to prevent and treat disabilities in older people with acquired joint contractures. Methods systematic search (last 8/2016) via Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMBASE, PEDro, CINAHL, trial registries, reference lists of retrieved articles and scientific congress pamphlets. Controlled and randomised controlled trials in English or German comparing an intervention with another intervention or standard care were included. Two independent researchers performed the selection of publications, data extraction and critical appraisal. Results seventeen studies with 992 participants met the inclusion criteria: 16 randomised controlled trials and 1 controlled trial (nursing homes = 4, community settings = 13). The methodological quality of the studies varied. Splints were examined in four studies, stretching exercises in nine studies, and ultrasound, passive movement therapy, bed-positioning and group exercise were each examined in one study. Studies on splints revealed inconclusive results regarding joint mobility or spasticity. Five of seven studies that assessed active stretching programmes for healthy older people reported statistically significant effects on joint mobility in favour of the intervention. Pain, quality of life, activity limitations and participation restrictions were rarely assessed. Conclusion the evidence for the effectiveness of interventions to prevent and treat disability due to joint contractures is weak, particularly for established nursing interventions such as positioning and passive movement. Better understanding is required regarding the delivery of interventions, such as their intensity and duration. In addition to functional issues, activities and social participation should also be studied as outcomes. KW - ultrasonography KW - elderly KW - disability KW - muscle spasticity Y1 - 2018 IS - 46 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kisch, Rebecca A1 - Bergmann, Antje A1 - Koller, Daniela A1 - Leidl, Reiner A1 - Mansmann, Ulrich A1 - Müller, Martin A1 - Sanftenberg, Linda A1 - Schelling, Joerg A1 - Sundmacher, Leonie A1 - Voigt, Karen A1 - Grill, Eva T1 - Patient trajectories and their impact on mobility, social participation and quality of life in patients with vertigo/dizziness/balance disorders and osteoarthritis (MobilE-TRA): study protocol of an observational, practice-based cohort study JF - BMJ OPEN N2 - Introduction Mobility limitations have a multitude of different negative consequences on elderly patients including decreasing opportunities for social participation, increasing the risk for morbidity and mortality. However, current healthcare has several shortcomings regarding mobility sustainment of older adults, namely a narrow focus on the underlying pathology, fragmentation of care across services and health professions and deficiencies in personalising care based on patients’ needs and experiences. A tailored healthcare strategy targeted at mobility of older adults is still missing. Objective The objective is to develop multiprofessional care pathways targeted at mobility sustainment and social participation in patients with vertigo/dizziness/balance disorders (VDB) and osteoarthritis (OA) . Methods Data regarding quality of life, mobility limitation, pain, stiffness and physical function is collected in a longitudinal observational study between 2017 and 2019. General practitioners (GPs) recruit their patients with VDB or OA. Patients who visited their GP in the last quarter will be identified in the practice software based on VDB and OA-related International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision. Study material will be sent from the practice to patients by mail. Six months and 12 months after baseline, all patients will receive a mail directly from the study team containing the follow-up questionnaire. GPs fill out questionnaires regarding patient diagnostics, therapy and referrals. Ethics and dissemination The study was approved by the ethical committee of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München and of the Technische Universität Dresden. Results will be published in scientific, peer-reviewed journals and at national and international conferences. Results will be disseminated via newsletters, the project website and a regional conference for representatives of local and national authorities. KW - vertigo KW - dizziness Y1 - 2018 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2018-022970 VL - 8 IS - 4 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Müller, Martin A1 - Oberhauser, Cornelia A1 - Fischer, Uli A1 - Bartoszek, Gabriele A1 - Saal, Susanne A1 - Strobl, Ralf A1 - Meyer, Gabriele A1 - Grill, Eva ED - CrossMark, T1 - The PaArticular Scales – A new outcome measure to quantify the impact of joint contractures on activities and participation in individuals in geriatric care: Development and Rasch analysis JF - International Journal of Nursing Studies N2 - Background Joint contractures are frequent conditions in individuals in geriatric care settings and are associated with activity limitations and participation restrictions. As such, relevant intervention programs should address these aspects, and the effectiveness of such programs should be determined by assessing improvement in activities and participation. However, no patient-centred and psychometrically sound outcome measures for this purpose are available so far. Objectives The objectives of this study were to develop and to validate a new outcome measure, the PaArticular Scales, to quantify activities and participation in older individuals with joint contractures. Specific aims were (A) to operationalize the content of an International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health-based standard set towards meaningful questions and to combine them to a questionnaire and (B) to assess the psychometric properties of the developed questionnaire, in detail to evaluate test–retest reliability, objectivity, internal consistency reliability and criterion validity. Design Operationalization was reached by an expert consensus conference and a subsequent expert Delphi survey. Psychometric properties were assessed in a cross-sectional study. Settings Nursing homes, geriatric rehabilitation facilities. Participants 23 experts (nurses, physicians, physical and occupational therapists) participated in the consensus conference and the Delphi survey. A total of 191 individuals with joint contractures (as confirmed by physician, nurse or physical therapist) between 65 and 102 years, living in nursing homes or as patients in geriatric rehabilitation were enrolled in the cross-sectional study. Methods Rasch Partial Credit Modelling. Results The consensus conference and Delphi survey resulted in a questionnaire with 86 items of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. Test–retest-reliability among those was acceptable (Cohen's weighted kappa: 0.779). The Rasch analysis revealed two independent interval-scaled scales with 24 items for the Activities scale and 11 items for the Participation scale with high internal consistency reliability. Cronbach's alpha was 0.96 for the Activities scale and 0.92 for the Participation scale. Criterion validity was −0.40 and −0.30 for the Activities scale and for the Participation scale, respectively. Conclusions The PaArticular Scales, a new patient-centred and psychometric sound outcome measures to comprehensively assess the impact of joint contractures in geriatric care, are available now. These developed scales will serve as primary outcomes in a scheduled evaluation of a complex intervention to improve participation and quality of life in nursing home residents with joint contractures. KW - Contractures KW - Nursing homes KW - Social participation KW - Disability evaluation Y1 - 2016 IS - 59 ER -