Clinical trials

Assistant nurses often develop work-related pain in the back, neck and shoulders because their work involves frequent patient handling and movement. Training in safe patient handling may help reduce pain and injury risk, and biofeedback may further support better work techniques during everyday care work. This study will test whether workplace-based training in patient handling can reduce musculoskeletal problems among assistant nurses. It will also examine whether adding six weeks of self-managed biofeedback-supported work technique training gives extra benefits compared with patient handling training alone. The study will include 60 assistant nurses with musculoskeletal symptoms, who will be randomly assigned to one of the two training groups. Data will be collected through interviews, physical assessments, questionnaires at baseline, six weeks and six months, and weekly SMS monitoring. Interviews with assistant nurses and managers will also explore how the intervention works in practice, how safe patient handling can be promoted, and what organisational factors support safer working methods.

Compression on structures, as spinal nerves, in the cervical spine can cause cervical radiculopathy which leads to pain, disability, and reduced quality of life for the affected individual. Cervical foraminotomy with our without laminectomy are common posterior decompression surgical techniques for treating cervical radiculopathy. There is a lack of knowledge regarding function in patients with cervical radiculopathy after posterior cervical decompression. The aim with this study is to study pain, function, psychosocial factors, and health related quality of life after posterior cervical decompression in patients with cervical radiculopathy. This is a prospective multicenter longitudinal observational cohort study with follow-up at three, 12- and 24 months postoperative. A total of 154 individuals scheduled to undergo foraminotomy with our without laminectomy due to cervical radiculopathy will be included. Primary outcome is neck-specific function measured with the Neck Disability Index. Data will be collected preoperatively and at three, 12 and 24 months with electronic questionnaire.

The PRIMI trial (Promoting Reproductive health In MIgrant women) is a randomized controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of a smartphone app designed to promote a healthy diet, physical activity, and health literacy among first-generation migrant women after pregnancy. The study will recruit 200 women within six months after pregnancy and randomize them into an intervention group, receiving access to the PRIMI app for six months, or a wait-list control group. The primary outcomes are diet quality and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, while secondary outcomes include health literacy, body mass index, self-efficacy, and self-rated health. The intervention is expected to provide accessible and culturally tailored support to improve postpartum health behaviors.

Astigmatism is a common cause of continued dependence on glasses after cataract surgery and may lead to patient dissatisfaction with surgical outcomes. As the corneal curvature is the main source for astigmatism after cataract surgery, our aim is to investigate whether postoperative astigmatism can be reduced by tailoring the location of surgical incisions according to the curvature of the cornea. We also wish to investigate whether this in turn reduces the need for glasses following cataract surgery. In the planned study, one group of patients with cataracts and concurrent corneal astigmatism will undergo surgery using customized incision placement, while a control group will be operated on using standard incision placement without consideration of corneal astigmatism. Astigmatism will be measured before surgery and again at 3 and 12 weeks postoperatively. We will also assess how tailored incisions affect corneal biomechanics and shape, as well as measure visual quality and the need for glasses during daily activities before and after surgery. Approximately 160,000 cataract procedures are performed annually in Sweden. Around 40% of these patients (64,000 individuals) have astigmatism greater than 1 diopter and could potentially achieve improved surgical outcomes based on the results of this study. The method is cost-effective and associated with a low risk of complications compared to other approaches for reducing astigmatism.

Physiological evaluation is part of the preoperative risk estimation in patients with lung cancer, and it aids in the choice of treatment. Ventilatory efficiency during exercise has emerged as a strong predictor of major postoperative complications, so far determined during a maximal cardiopulmonary exercise test. However, this test is limited by its availability and high cost, due to the requirement of high-technological equipment and advanced expertise. The current project aims to evaluate a simplified and accessible method for risk evaluation before decision on treatment in lung cancer. It builds on recent advances in technology and knowledge and combines a simple, low-intensity cycling test with measurement of ventilatory efficiency (end-tidal carbon dioxide pressure) with a handheld monitor. In a prospective, multi-center design the investigators will include patients evaluated for suspected lung cancer. The main objective is to establish threshold values for end-tidal carbon dioxide associated with low respectively high risk of major complications in patients undergoing surgery. In addition, the study aims to determine if end-tidal carbon dioxide can predict severe side-effects during neoadjuvant or curatively aiming systemic therapy. The project is closely linked to clinical practice, and the results can be easily implemented due to the simple and cost-efficient methodology. the suggested simplified approach would also allow access to physiological evaluation where more advanced methods are unavailable.

Globally, studies indicated that 16% of community dwelling older adults have been exposed to some form of abuse in the past 12 months. Furthermore, a global meta-analysis about AOP in long-term care facilities used staff as respondents and found that the pooled estimate of overall self-reported perpetration of staff to resident abuse during the past 12 months was 64.2% (95% CI 53.3-73.9%). Similar findings was also reported in a study from Norway in which the overall prevalence of observed staff-to-resident abuse was 76% and 60% of respondents report self-perpetration of abusive acts during the past 12 months. Resident-to-resident aggression was even more common, observed by 88% of respondents. This study is part of the Swedish national research program APPEAL (A Path to Prevention of Elder Abuse in Long-term care) with the long-term goal to co-create an intervention for abuse of older people (AOP) in nursing homes together with stakeholders, i.e., staff, managers, care recipients and relatives. Study design and data collection: A cross-sectional study design will be used with slightly different data collection modes. 1. Population sample. Statistics Sweden combine data from the Swedish Occupational Register with data about industry codes (SNI-codes) to make a national randomized sample of staff working in home care services (n=12000) and nursing homes (n=11000) in Sweden. Data will be collected through a digital survey. Data will be combined with available register data from Statistics Sweden, including for example sex, age, civil state and occupational related data. 2. Workplace sample. Sweden has 290 Municipalities. The Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR) have an official categorization of the municipalities based on e.g., urban area size, proximity to a larger urban area, and commuting patterns. One municipality in each of the nine categories has been randomly selected for participation. In the randomization process, geographical location of the municipalities has been considered to assure national representativeness, meaning that in case several municipalities in the same geographical region were selected a new randomization was conducted. Staff in each selected municipalities will be invited to participate through managers in each organization. Data will be collected through a digital questionnaire. Organizations will be encouraged to set a side time at a staff meeting for completing the questionnaire. If this is not possible, a link to the questionnaire will be sent out by e-mail. Data will be collected anonymously. Material: The questionnaire used in the previously mentioned Norwegian study about AOP in long-term care facilities has been translated and culturally adapted. In addition, items about background characteristics of respondents as well as risk factors for AOP on both an individual and system level are included, e.g., workload and perceived support at the workplace and ageist attitudes. Analysis: Primary outcomes will be proportion of staff reporting different types of abuse (psychological, physical, sexual, financial abuse and neglect) in different relational contexts, i.e., self-perpetrated, staff-to-resident and relative-to resident abuse, and in long-term care facilities resident-to-resident abuse. Secondary outcome will be staff reported own exposure to different forms of abuse at the workplace, including by residents, co-workers, relatives and managers. Logistic regression analysis will be used to investigate associations between reporting different forms of abuse and potentially explanatory factors.

The goal of this to determine the effect of tailored exergaming for inactive patients with heart failure to reduce their sedentary time, improve their daily physical activity, exercise capacity, decrease frailty and improve health-related quality of life. Participants will, on a background of standard guideline-directed medical therapy patients, be randomised to tailored activity advice (control) or the Heart-Exergame (Heart-eXg) intervention for a period of 3 months. Patients randomised to the Heart-eXg group will receive an exergame with feedback and tailoring to adapt the exergaming advice. Patients will also be able to play with a person in their own network.

The overall aim of this project is to evaluate the effects of a digital support program for patients with heart failure through a cluster-randomized controlled trial, and to investigate the outcomes of different implementation strategies using the RE-AIM (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance), PRISM (Practical, Robust Implementation and Sustainability Model) and ERIC (Expert Recommendations for Implementing Change) framework. Our primary hypothesis is that the digital support program will improve patients' perceived control over their heart failure, measured with the validated Control Attitude Scale. Secondary hypotheses are that the program will increase patients' health-related quality of life, self-care behaviors, heart failure knowledge, perceived continuity of care, and participation in care, and reduce symptoms of depression. Implementation aim (based on the RE-AIM, PRISM and ERIC frameworks) The implementation component of the study aims to compare two different implementation strategies: a standard (basic) support package versus a tailored, context-specific support strategy. Heart failure clinics at hospitals an within primary care will be matched and randomized into two arms. The intervention arm will receive tailored implementation support to implement the support program. The control arm will recive implementation support according to a predefined standard procedure. Researchers will compare the intervention arm with control arm to see if there are any differences regarding the implementationsuccess between the arms. The patients in both arms will have access to the support program during six months.

The investigators' purpose is to develop and test the feasibility, usability, and satisfaction of the Diet4painrelief app as a platform for implementing nutrition care in a specialist pain rehabilitation clinic. The Diet4painrelief will consist of two components: a) a screening tool for nutrition status b) an individually tailored behavior change program aiming to improve the dietary habits and behaviors of patients living with chronic pain. Part I: Included 20 patients with complex chronic pain to examine the feasibility and outcomes of evidence-based Interdisciplinary Pain Rehabilitation Program (IPRP) integrated with nutrition care. The Diet4painrelief includes a screening tool to assess basic nutritional status as well as their intake of key unhealthy and healthy foods and drinks (through three 24hour-dietary recordings or food diary). Thereafter, the patients receive a personalized behavior change program for dietary optimization. The investigators will design and adapt 6 modules in the digital platform (Diet4painrelief app) based on the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) recommendations (6 aspects about 'nutrition and pain') and Sweden's food culture. Clinical outcomes using patient-reported data on socio-demographics, pain aspects, psychometric data, physical disability, and quality of life will be measured at three occasions: first appointment (Pre-IPRP), immediately after completing the rehabilitation program (Post-IPRP), and at a 12-month follow-up (FU-IPRP). Blood samples will be taken to identify biomarkers at the same occasions that provide objective information on metabolic and nutritional abnormalities and further to evaluate the effect of the dietary intervention on changing of pain rehabilitation outcomes. Part II: Included 192 patients with complex chronic pain. Half of the participants receive IPRP and nutrition care (described above) and the other half receive standard IPRP.

This study aims to investigate the effects of guided internet-based cogitive behavioral therapy (ICBT) on psychological symptoms related to economy. In this pilot study, the investigators investigate participants' psychological symptoms before and after, and one and two years after, they have received eight weeks of therapist guided ICBT.

The goal of this multi-center randomized controlled trial is to investigate the effect of pre-operative exercise therapy and education for patients awaiting knee replacement surgery on subjective knee function, patient satisfaction and enablement compared to standard care. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Does pre-operative exercise therapy and education lead to better subjective knee function compared to standard care one year after surgery? * Does pre-operative exercise therapy and education lead to a higher level of patient satisfaction compared to standard care one year after surgery? * Does pre-operative exercise therapy and education lead to better patient enablement compared to standard care six weeks after surgery? * Does pre-operative exercise therapy and education lead to better objective knee function compared to standard care six weeks after surgery? Participants will be randomized stratified by age (≤ 67 years, \> 67 years) to either pre-operative supervised individualized exercise therapy combined with education two sessions/week (intervention group) or to standard care (control group). The intervention will be continuously ongoing for at least eight weeks from the point of decision for surgery until as close to the surgery as possible.

Background: Artificial intelligence has in numerous studies shown high accuracy in detecting skin cancer when trained on various databases of dermatoscopic images. However, there are very few prospective studies conducted in real clinical settings directed at patients seeking healthcare for assessment of skin lesions, and nosuch studies at all in primary care, where the majority of patients are managed. Project aim: To study the accuracy, reliability, and clinical utility of an AI-based decision support system (Dermalyser), developed for primary care, in distinguishing skin cancer from benign lesions. Method: Cluster-randomized controlled trial at approx. 30 primary care centers in Sweden, Germany, Scotland, the Netherlands and Australia. At study start, the participating primary care centres in each country are equally randomised to either be enabled to use the Dermalyser (intervention phase) or to assess patients according to the standard clinical procedure (control phase). When half of the intended sample size (i.e. 1500 of 3000 participants) have been included, the primary care centres switch phase from intervention to control, or vice versa. During the intervention phase, the physicians may use (if found indicated) Dermalyser as a part of their clinical evaluation, whereas during the control phase the physicians follow their ordinary diagnostic routine without support from Dermalyser. This will direct the participants to either an intervention or a control cohort. Both groups will be followed for up to 5 years, with regard to the tumour diagnoses, proportions of skin cancer/benign lesions, and morbidity and mortality in skin cancer. Possible between-group differences will be investigated statistically. Potential benefits: If the Dermalyser prooves to be safe and diagnotically reliability, it could enhance the chance of detecting skin cancer in early stage in primary care, and to reduce the proportion of benign skin lesion unnecessarily excised or referred to dermatologist.

The HOME Project evaluates the effects of structured health dialogues with individuals aged 67-84 years in the municipality of Borgholm, Sweden. A combination of registry data and survey responses will be used to monitor quality of life, morbidity, healthcare needs, and lifestyle factors over a six-year period. Outcomes will be compared between randomized groups within Borgholm municipality and a matched control group from seven other municipalities in Region Kalmar. The project also includes an analysis of cost-effectiveness and the reach of the intervention. A qualitative interview study will explore participants' perceptions of their health, their motivations for health improvement, and their experiences of how the health dialogues may influence these aspects. In a substudy, machine learning models will be developed to predict functional decline and high healthcare needs among older adults. These models will be validated against established risk assessment tools such as the Adjusted Clinical Groups (ACG) system and the Charlson Comorbidity Index. Digital motion analysis using Skeleton Avatar Technology will be employed both independently and in combination with other variables to support model development.

This randomized controlled trial will assess the impact of the FoodSwitch mobile app, which provides interpretive front-of-pack labelling via barcode scanning, in 900 Swedish adults with type 2 diabetes. Participants will be randomized to app + standard advice or standard advice alone. The primary outcome is change in HbA1c at 6 months; secondary outcomes include anthropometrics, quality of life, medication use, hospitalizations, and mortality.

Surgery is often a central curative treatment for gastrointestinal tumors. Surgical treatment of diagnosed cancer tumors is decided after a comprehensive assessment of the patient's physical status, radiological assessments and after careful evaluation at the multidisciplinary conference. Despite the careful preoperative assessment of patients for curative surgery, the planned operation may unexpectedly need to be canceled. Of the patients who were planned for curative resection for pancreatic cancer in 2021 in Sweden, 90% received the intended surgery, and 10% of planned surgery was canceled. The reason for this was disseminated cancer or locally advanced disease in which radical resection is considered impossible to carry out. A systematic review of knowledge reveals a significant lack of evidence regarding patient-centered research and aborted cancer surgery. The studies in the project have different study designs and methods, and include focus group interviews with staff, translation and validation of a questionnaire to measure care needs, estimation of supportive care needs and patient experiences. An improved understanding and knowledge of patients' preferences and needs is needed to design interventions that can improve health-related quality of life. This project is dedicated to studying patients undergoing aborted cancer surgery, with the aim of improving the quality of care and meeting patients' care needs.

This is a type 3 hybrid cluster randomised controlled trial, where implementation of the intervention is the primary outcome and preventive effectiveness is the secondary outcome. The overall purpose of this study is to evaluate the added value of implementation support on the use and preventive effectiveness of the injury prevention exercise programme Knee Control+ in male and female, youth and adult amateur football teams. Research questions 1. Does use and injury preventive effect of Knee Control+ differ between teams randomised to an intervention group receiving additional support for Knee Control+ use and teams randomised to a control group with standard access to digital Knee Control+ programme material? 2. Does coach self-efficacy to use Knee Control+, player motivation and player training dosage differ between the intervention and control groups? 3. What are the mediators and moderators that influence use of Knee Control+? 4. How well do the intervention and control groups adhere to Knee Control+ recommended use and is there an association between adherence and preventive efficacy? 5. How are different components of the support material used by the intervention group teams, and how is the implementation support perceived by administrators, coaches and players in the clubs (end-users) and by fitness coaches who educate coaches about the programme (intervention deliverers)? 6. How do coaches perceive their engagement to lead Knee Control+ training with their players and has this changed after having used the implementation support material? Football teams will be randomised before the 2025 season to an intervention group receiving additional support for the implementation of Knee Control+ or to a control group without this support. All teams will have access to digital programme material via the Swedish Football Association. Data on implementation of Knee Control+ and injuries (players only) will be collected weekly (coaches) and monthly (players) throughout the season using web-based questionnaires. Behavioural outcomes: for coaches self-efficacy, action and coping planning and perceived support from the club, and for players autonomous motivation, basic psychological needs and basic need support, will also be analysed.

Remote dielectric sensing (ReDS) technology offers a non-invasive method for assessing lung congestion. This randomized controlled trial aims to evaluate the effectiveness and processes of the ReDS-guided heart failure management program in primary care settings for patients with heart failure.

Preterm infants are exposed to multiple stressors each day, posing a risk of toxic stress that can impact their developing brains during a critical period of sensitivity. Elevated levels of the stress hormone cortisol can impede neuronal connectivity and communication, thereby increasing the likelihood of cognitive impairment and behavioural problems. Synchronized social-emotional mother-infant interaction holds promise in buffering stress reactivity and mitigating long-term stress effects. Our previous research has shown that preterm infants exhibit higher baseline saliva cortisol levels than full-term infants, along with blunted cortisol reactivity to stressors, irregular cortisol circadian rhythms, and delayed cortisol co-regulation between mother and infant. Another potential stress marker is saliva alpha-amylase (α-amylase), which has garnered increasing interest in adult research. However, there remains a significant gap in the literature concerning saliva α-amylase as a stress marker in preterm infants, warranting further investigation. The overall aim is to study development and relationships between three systems of parent-infant synchrony in preterm infants and their parents and elucidate potential confounding factors for a synchronous correlation. This will be done in relation to standardised care procedures commonly performed in the neonatal intensive care unit. This observational study will involve 35 families undergoing three video-recorded procedures in the NICU. Saliva will be collected from infants and both parents before and after each procedure so we can analyse co-regulation of cortisol and alpha-amylase. Parent-infant interaction will be analysed from the videos using validated scales. This study will be the first to document biological co-regulation and social-emotional parent-infant interaction simultaneously involving preterm infants and both parents in the NICU setting. Such insights are pivotal for the future design and implementation of tailored nursing interventions aimed at early stress mitigation, thereby reducing the risk of stress-related consequences.

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if internet-based cognitive behavior therapy (ICBT ) works to treat co-occurent of problematic alcohol use and mental illness including mild to moderate symptoms of either depression, anxiety, stress or disturbed sleep. The main questions the study aims to answer are: * Does the ICBT program lower the self-rated suffering from mental illness? * Does the ICBT program lower the self-reported alcohol intake? Researchers will compare the ICBT program to the participants who are rancomized to a control grout that receives weekly attention from the research team, to see if the treatment works. In both groups, the participants will have the opportunity to ask for support from a therapist during the week days. Participants are adults living in Sweden. They will: * Receive an ICBT program supported by a trained therapist. It consists of modules that the participants will work with on their computer for 10 weeks. Some modules will be compulsory and other optional for the participants. * Fill out forms to rate their mental illness and alcohol intake at the start and the end of the study as well as once every week during treatment. Primary outcome measures are depression, anxiety and stress symptoms (measured with Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale 21 (DASS-21)) and alcohol intake measured with self-reported amounts. Other, secondary, outcome measures used will for example be about insomnia symptoms and disability assessment. Pre-treatment measurement, post-treatment measurement and 6-months and 12-months follow up is planned to be collected through an online survey.

The study aims to study the efficacy of internet-based cognitive behavior therapy (ICBT) in reducing subjective distress and comorbid psychiatric symptoms in men diagnosed with prostate cancer. Participants who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer and are currently not undergoing or scheduled to undergo medical treatment will be recruited. Once recruited, they will be randomized to receive either a tailored, eight-week long ICBT intervention or an attention control group. Both group receive weekly support by a trained therapist.

The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate how an acceptance based internet-delivered psychological treatment (IACT) tailored to patients with chronic pain is perceived, and if it meets the needs and expectations of those enrolled. The main question it aims to answer is: What are the expectations of patients with chronic pain prior to IACT treatment, and how do they experience IACT during and after treatment? Participants will be offered a 7 week long treatment with therapist support. They will be interviewed before treatment starts, once during treatment, and again after treatment is completed.

The goal of this randomised controlled trial is to investigate the effects of and compare two modes of physical exercise (strength training and high-intensity aerobic exercise) to unchanged physical activity on vasomotor symptoms (hot flushes) in postmenopausal women. The main question it aims to answer is the effect of 15 weeks of strength training vs high intensity aerobic training vs unchanged physical activity on frequency and severity of hot flushes. Participants will be randomised to: 1. strength training 2. high-intensity aerobic training 3. untreated control group. Researchers will compare strength training, high-intensity aerobic training and untreated control group to see if training can reduce hot flushes.

The purpose of the study is to investigate if internet delivered affect-focused psychodynamic therapy (IPDT) leads to lowered levels of trait neuroticism compared to a wait-list control condition. The target group is adults (18+) who experience mild to moderate symptoms of anxiety and/or depression. The IPDT treatment consists of 8 modules that the participants will work with for 9 weeks, with therapist support. Participants will be recruited in Sweden with nationwide recruitment.

The overall aim is to evaluate the impact of the use of two different guidelines for monitoring labor progress, the WHOs LCG versus standard care, on neonatal and maternal outcomes. The hypothesis is that the use of LCG will reduce adverse neonatal outcomes and decrease the number of intrapartum Cesarean sections compared with standard care. Secondly, other perinatal interventions and complications will be compared between the LCG and standard care groups, as well as economic considerations. This will be investigated using a multicenter, stepped-wedge cluster randomized trial design. In addition, the project will explore a series of quantitative and qualitative research questions to gain in-depth knowledge about experiences and perceptions about childbirth and the use of LCG. These research questions will be investigated using questionnaires, focus group and individual interviews with providers, partners and women that have gone through childbirth.

The goal of this observational study is to learn about how the blood leucocytes from patients with and without exposure or disease from tuberculosis (TB) are able to kill live mycobacteria (M. tuberculosis). The main question it aims to answer is: Is intracellular growth suppression of M. tuberculosis in peripheral blood mononuclear cells variable among healthy blood donors and higher than in patients with latent TB compared to active TB?