NCT05927935

First-line Treatment for Femoroacetabular Impingement Syndrome

First-line Treatment for Femoroacetabular Impingement Syndrome: a Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing a Supervised Strength Exercise Intervention to Usual Care on Hip-related Quality of Life. (Better Hip Trial)

• Status: Active Not Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 120 (estimated)
• Sponsor: University of Aarhus · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 50 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

There is sparse evidence on the effectiveness of first-line treatment in patients with femoroacetabular impingement syndrome (FAIS) regarding clinical- and cost-effectiveness. The goal of this randomized controlled trial is to compare the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a supervised strength exercise intervention to usual first-line care in patients with FAIS. The main hypothesis it aims to investigate are: 1. 6-months of supervised strength exercise intervention is superior (i.e., at least 6 points, on a scale from 0-100) to usual care in improving hip related quality of life in patients with FAIS at the end of intervention. 2. 6-months of supervised strength exercise intervention is cost-effective compared to usual first-line care at 12-month follow-up in patients with FAIS. 3. High exercise adherence and dosage will be superior to low exercise adherence and dosage in mediating clinical effectiveness in patients with FAIS.

Detailed description

There is sparse evidence on the effectiveness of first-line treatment in patients with femoroacetabular impingement syndrome (FAIS) regarding clinical- and cost-effectiveness. The Better Hip trial is a multicenter, stratified (by hospital site), randomized (allocation 1:1), controlled, assessor blinded, superiority trial conducted in Denmark (Aarhus, Horsens, Aalborg, and Odense) and Australia (Melbourne). Eligible patients will either be randomized to a supervised strength exercise intervention or to usual care. The primary outcome will be hip-related quality of life measured at end of intervention (6 months) with the iHOT-33. A health economic evaluation will assess the difference in cost-effectiveness between groups from baseline to 12 months. Secondary outcomes will be measured at baseline, 3-, 6- and 12- months after initiating the intervention for patient reported outcome measures (PROMs), and at baseline and 6-months for objective outcome measures obtained at clinical assessments. This trial aims to investigate the clinical and cost-effectiveness of a supervised strength exercise intervention compared to usual care as first-line treatment in patients with FAIS. A secondary aim is to explore how exercise adherence and dosage of a supervised strength exercise intervention mediates outcomes. The investigators hypothesis that; 1. 6-months of supervised strength exercise intervention is superior (i.e., at least 6 points, on a scale from 0-100) to usual care in improving hip related quality of life in patients with FAIS at the end of intervention. 2. 6-months of supervised strength exercise intervention is cost-effective compared to usual first-line care at 12-month follow-up in patients with FAIS. 3. High exercise adherence and dosage will be superior to low exercise adherence and dosage in mediating clinical effectiveness in patients with FAIS. A full trial protocol will be published and made publicly available prior to analysis for the primary paper. All primary and secondary outcomes will be analysed with the intention-to-treat principle. Supplementary to the intention-to-treat analysis a per protocol analysis will be conducted. Between-group differences will be analyzed using a linear mixed effect model for continuous outcomes and a logistical mixed effect model for binary outcome variables. Intervention group, recruitment site and time will be included as fixed effects and patients will be included as a random effect. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICER) will be calculated by dividing the difference in costs by the difference in effects (quality-adjusted life years for cost-utility and iHOT-33 for cost-effectiveness)

Conditions

• Femoroacetabular Impingement Syndrome

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Supervised strength exercise intervention	A 6 months exercise intervention of training 2 times a week. Patients will be instructed by a physiotherapist during the first session, in order to be able to perform the exercises at home or in a local gymnasium based on personal preference. Subsequently, there are supervised sessions once every second week (12 sessions in total). The intervention will consist of 6 exercises. 4 targeting planes of hip movement (i.e., flexion, extension, abduction and adduction), a general lower extremity- and a trunk exercise. Progression is made when an exercise is performed with the designated number of sets and repetitions, with good performance quality and tolerable pain. Progression is provided by 3 levels of difficulty and secondly by the number of repetitions or where possible by increasing the external load. In addition, patient information and education is identical to what is delivered in the usual care group.
OTHER	Minimal educational intervention (usual care)	Usual care varies slightly across regions in Denmark and between Denmark and Australia. The consensus is that the patient should be advised to remain physically active and reduce symptom provoking activities. Therefore, patients will receive a referral for physiotherapy and supplementary a minimal educational intervention is provided as usual care. Patients allocated to the usual care group will receive written information on self-management of hip symptoms including advice about staying physically active in accordance with the World Health Organization guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behavior. Moreover, self-management of hip symptoms will include advice to reduce symptoms by focusing on symptom-lowering activities and sports. The content of the information provided as usual care will be identical to the information provided to the patients in the intervention group. Patients in the usual care group can continue to seek any additional treatment they would like.

Timeline

• Start date: 2023-07-01
• Primary completion: 2026-07-01
• Completion: 2027-07-01
• First posted: 2023-07-03
• Last updated: 2026-01-22

Locations

5 sites across 2 countries: Australia, Denmark