Trial reportBMJ (Clinical research ed.)2024
Effect of heated mittens on physical hand function in people with hand osteoarthritis: randomised controlled trial.
Trial report in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04576403 (Heated Mittens for Patients With Hand Osteoarthritis), which is not on this map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Heated Mittens for Patients With Hand Osteoarthritis: a Randomized Controlled Trial
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The short-term efficacy of heat therapy for osteoarthritis of the hands: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of rehabilitation medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Osteoarthritis: Epidemiology, Diagnosis, and Treatment.MedComm · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo assess the effect of electrically heated mittens on physical hand function in people with osteoarthritis of the hands compared with control mittens.
designRandomised controlled trial.
settingOsteoarthritis outpatient clinic, Copenhagen, Denmark.
participants200 people with hand osteoarthritis aged 42-90 years. 100 participants were assigned to the intervention group and 100 to the control group.
interventionsElectrically heated mittens or control mittens (heating elements disconnected) worn for at least 15 minutes daily for six weeks.
main outcome measuresThe primary outcome was change in hand function measured on the function subscale of the Australian/Canadian hand osteoarthritis index (AUSCAN; score 0-100 points) at six weeks. Key secondary outcomes included changes in the AUSCAN hand pain subscale (score 0-100 points), global rating of hand osteoarthritis related problems (0-100 visual analogue scale), and grip strength (newtons) at six weeks. Analysis of secondary outcomes was performed using a hierarchical gatekeeping approach.
results91 participants in the intervention group and 95 in the control group completed the trial. The mean age of participants was 71 years, 87% (n=173) were women, and mean body mass index was 24.9 (SD 4.4). Median disease duration was 10 years (interquartile range 5-15 years). The between group difference for change in AUSCAN function at week 6 was 3.0 points (95% confidence interval (CI) -0.4 to 6.3; P=0.09) in favour of heated mittens. For the key secondary outcome, change in AUSCAN hand pain score from baseline, a group difference was observed of 5.9 points (95% CI 2.2 to 9.5) in favour of heated mittens. Changes in global rating of hand osteoarthritis related problems and grip strength did not differ between the groups with an observed difference between groups of 2.8 points (95% CI -3.7 to 9.2) and 2.3 newtons (95% CI -16.3 to 21.0) in favour of heated mittens, respectively.
conclusionUse of electrically heated mittens for six weeks was not related to a positive change in physical hand function compared with control mittens. Heated mittens provided no additional benefits on global rating of hand osteoarthritis related problems and grip strength. A small benefit was detected for hand pain, but this could have been overestimated.
trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT04576403.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.