Effect of online physical therapy on workplace accident-related outcomes in nursing care worker: study protocol of a multicentre randomised controlled trial

INTRODUCTION: According to the 2017 data, occupational accidents are more common in social welfare facilities compared with other industries; in particular, the number of occupational accidents resulting in four or more days of absence from work due to low back pain (LBP) or falls has increased and is considered problematic. Although physical therapy has been demonstrated to be effective in preventing LBP and falls in older adults living in the community, no randomised controlled trials have examined whether individual online physical therapy can prevent LBP and falls in nursing care workers (NCW). METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A total of 120 NCW aged 20 years or older will be randomly assigned to an online individualised therapy group (ITG) or usual group (UG) after obtaining informed consent. We defined an NCW as a person who assists disabled and elderly persons with eating, bathing and toileting activities in social welfare facilities. We will follow-up the participants 12 months after the start of the intervention and compare the results at 3, 6 and 12 months. The primary endpoint will be the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI); ITG participants will receive professional advice on LBP and musculoskeletal problems from a physical therapist via online interview and email as often as they wish over a 6-month period; UG participants will only have access to brochures and video feeds related to LBP and fall prevention. Owing to the nature of the study, blinding the participants and interventionists is not possible; however, the outcomes will be assessed via a web-based questionnaire to prevent detection bias. The null hypothesis is that there is no clinically important difference in the primary outcome between the two treatment groups and that a decrease in the ODI score of at least 20% is clinically meaningful. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The Ethics Committee of the Japanese Society of Occupational Medicine approved the protocol of this study. The results of this study will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals and conference presentations. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: jRCT1070210128.