Implementation fidelity is the extent to which an intervention is delivered as intended by intervention developers, and is extremely important in increasing confidence that changes in study outcomes are due to the effect of the intervention itself and not due to variability in implementation. Growing demands on healthcare services mean that multiple condition interventions involving highly prevalent musculoskeletal pain conditions such as chronic low back pain (CLBP) and/or osteoarthritis (OA) are of increasing clinical interest. This is the first in-depth review of implementation fidelity within self-management interventions for any musculoskeletal pain condition. Structured self-management interventions delivered by health-care professionals (including at least one physiotherapist) in a group format involving adults with OA of the lumbar spine, hip or knee and/or CLBP were eligible for inclusion. The National Institutes of Health Behaviour Change Consortium Treatment Fidelity checklist was used by two independent reviewers to assess fidelity.Background
Methods
Osteoarthritis (OA) and chronic low back pain (CLBP > 12 weeks duration) are two of the most common and costly chronic musculoskeletal conditions globally. Healthcare service demands mean that group-based multiple condition interventions are of increasing clinical interest and a priority for research, but no reviews have evaluated the effectiveness of group-based physiotherapy-led self-management interventions (GPSMI) for both conditions concurrently. Rapid review methodologies are an increasingly valid means of expediting knowledge dissemination and are particularly useful for addressing focused research questions. The electronic databases of MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials were searched from the earliest date possible to August 26th 2013. Structured group-based interventions that aimed to promote self-management and that were delivered by health-care professionals (including at least one physiotherapist) involving adults with OA and/or CLBP were eligible for inclusion. The screening and selection of studies, data extraction and risk of bias assessment were conducted independently by two reviewers.Background
Methods
The 2011 National Hip Fracture Database (NHFD) Report has shown our institute has the fewest number of patients meeting the 36-hour target to theatre in the UK (9%) but well above the national average for review by geriatrician (42.5%) at 76%. We believe our timely medical input means patients' are more physiologically normalised prior to surgery. We aimed to review our postoperative results to see if our patients had significantly different morbidity and mortality compared to the rest of the UK. We reviewed 152 patients between the period September 2009 and September 2010. All of the patients were prospectively identified and their information was added to our hip fracture database. Using the auditing software we reviewed the patients' outcomes and compared them to national averages using figures from the NHFD. Of the 152 patients identified 13% met the 36-hour target. The average time to theatre for the study group was 89 hours. 83% of the group had a pre-operative assessment by a geriatrician. The primary reason for surgical delay was a lack of space on a theatre list (61.2%) followed by being medical unfit (16.4%). The average length of acute hospital stay was 16.4 days matching the national average while 30 Day mortality at 7.9% was (0.5%) lower than NHFD figures. We continue to try and improve our time to surgery for hip fracture patients and accept this is mostly related to limited theatre access. Deficient resources due to Northern Ireland's exclusion from the best practice tariff means we are unable to compete with the top performing units in the NHFD. While it makes humanitarian sense to expedite surgery, evidence used to determine the 36-hour target is quoted as “low quality” or “very low quality”. Our data shows no significant difference in outcomes compared to national figures.
