NCT06781658

Rehab in Mild Stable DCM: Feasibility RCT Comparing Structured Rehabilitation to Clinical Surveillance

Rehab in Mild DCM: Study Protocol for a Feasibility Randomised Controlled Trial to Compare the Effectiveness of a Structured Rehabilitation Intervention to Clinical Surveillance in People With Mild Stable Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy.

• Status: Not Yet Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 24 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The goal of this feasibility RCT is to establish the feasibility of undertaking a RCT investigating the effectiveness of a multi component structured rehabilitation intervention aiming at reducing physical disability in people with mild stable Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy. The main question it will answer are what is the incidence of mild stable DCM in the neurosurgical OPD clinics, what is the eligibility rate and participate rate of those eligible. It will also investigate the acceptability of the intervention to both participants and clinicians and participant retention. Researchers will compare a structured rehabilitation intervention to clinical surveillance. The structured rehabilitation intervention will include education, a physical activity behavioural change intervention, cervical range of motion exercises, neck, upper limb and scapular strengthening exercises and task specific hand function training.

Conditions

• Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Structured rehabilitation intervention	Participants will be prescribed a multi-component SRI which will include education, cervical range of motion exercises, progressive neck strengthening exercises, individualised scapular and upper limb strengthening, task specific hand function training and a physical activity behavioural change intervention. The TIDieR checklist has been used to provide a comprehensive description of this complex intervention. (17).
OTHER	Clinical Surveillance	Participants assigned to the clinical surveillance control group will be invited to attend a single, one to one education session which will be supplemented with a written patient information booklet after which they will be scheduled for a 12 week follow up.

Timeline

• Start date: 2025-01-13
• Primary completion: 2026-06-30
• Completion: 2026-06-30
• First posted: 2025-01-17
• Last updated: 2025-01-17

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Ireland