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Knowledge, Attitudes, PracticeNCT03710837

The Effect of Pain Education on Multidisciplinary Healthcare Students' Understanding of Chronic Pain

A study testing Pain neuroscience education and Red flag education in people with Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice, run by Teesside University at 1 site in United Kingdom.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

Chronic pain is the leading cause of disability worldwide affecting just under 28 million people in the UK. Chronic pain conditions require a biopsychosocial rather than a biomedical model of care. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 years and olderHealthy volunteers can take part
Conditions the study is for
Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
What is being tested?
Pain neuroscience education and Red flag education
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
37 participants
Where
1 siteUnited Kingdom
Study dates
1 Oct 2018to 15 Oct 2019
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 18 years and older
  • All sexes
  • Healthy volunteers accepted
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Pre-registration student at Teesside University in one of following six disciplines: paramedics, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, midwifery, nursing, diagnostic radiography.

Who cannot join

  • Disciplines other than those listed above

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

United Kingdom1 site
  • Teesside University

    Middlesbrough, TS1 3BX

Other trials in United Kingdom

About this study

Official title: The Effect of Pain Education on Multidisciplinary Healthcare Students' Understanding of Chronic Pain, Clinical Recommendations and Attitudes Towards People With Chronic Pain: a Mixed-methods Randomised Controlled Trial

Chronic pain is the leading cause of disability worldwide affecting just under 28 million people in the UK. Chronic pain conditions require a biopsychosocial rather than a biomedical model of care. Biomedical management lacks evidence of effectiveness but also has the potential to exacerbate the condition by raising fears and anxiety about potential pathological abnormalities.

Healthcare professionals often hold negative beliefs about people with chronic pain and view the condition within a biomedical framework. These negative attitudes can be observed at the pre-registration training stage of the health professionals' career. Thus, the pre-registration phase is an important point where an individual's understanding of, and beliefs about, pain and people with pain may be shaped for the future. The need for improved and better education of healthcare professionals to support best practice for low back pain with the aim of integrating professionals' management of low back pain and fostering innovation in practice is well recognised. This study seeks to quantify the benefits of pain education in knowledge, attitudes and beliefs. The findings may encourage other pre-registration institutions to deliver pain education in a more directed way and simultaneously support the International Association for the Study of Pain's (IASP) proposed integration pain education into existing curriculum.

Read the detailed description

In 2011 Briggs et al described pain education at undergraduate level for healthcare professionals as 'woefully inadequate'. Pain Neurophysiology Education (PNE) can improve undergraduates' pain understanding/management, however previous RCTs used single discipline groups and immediate follow-up. Investigation of the effectiveness of this education on students across the multi-professional team with medium-to-long-term follow-up will provide important new information on the generalisability of existing data and whether or not any changes in pain understanding/management are maintained over time.

This study aims to contribute to the development of neuromusculoskeletal physiotherapy by identifying whether or not this education, which aims to up skill healthcare professionals of the future, is effective and can change their behaviours in practice to enhance patient care in chronic pain management. PNE has been shown to be useful in patient care in conjunction with other treatment methods. If this intervention is successful in altering pain attitudes and knowledge in keeping with modern science then students may feel more confident and able to manage pain post qualification. The findings of this study will support or refute the addition of PNE into healthcare professional undergraduate programmes.

Being tested
Pain neuroscience education, Red flag education
Keywords
Education, Healthcare professional students
Medical subject headings
Behavior

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Pain neuroscience educationOther

    Also called Red flag education

    Two different lectures covering essential clinical skills but one designed to explore the hypothesis

  • Red flag educationOther

    Also called Pain neuroscience education

    Two different lectures covering essential clinical skills but one designed to explore the hypothesis

Study groups in NCT03710837
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Pain neuroscience educationExperimentalIntervention: Pain neuroscience education group. One-off, 70 minute duration session delivered by Dr Cormac Ryan.
Receives: Other: Pain neuroscience education
Red flag educationExperimentalIntervention: Red flags education group. One-off 70 minute duration session delivered by Dr Cormac Ryan.
Receives: Other: Red flag education

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. HC-PAIRS questionnaire

    Health Care Providers Pain and Impairment Relationship Scale - assessing attitudes and beliefs towards pain using a 13 item validated questionnaire. High score is a worse outcome. Scores range from 13-91.

    Measured: 6 months

  2. Revised Neurophysiology Quiz

    Measures knowledge of pain physiology using a 12 point validated questionnaire. Low score is poor sign. Scores range from 0-12.

    Measured: 6 months

  3. Case vignette

    Measures clinical practise behaviours in pain management. A validated proxy measure of clinical behaviour, MCQ weighted as appropriate or inappropriate according to current national clinical guidelines. A low score is good, and scores range from 4 to 20.

    Measured: 6 months

  4. Red flag knowledge

    Measures knowledge of red flags. Low score is a poor sign. Scores range from 0-10.

    Measured: 6 months

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted18 Oct 2018
  2. Study start1 Oct 2018
  3. Primary completion15 Oct 2019
  4. Study completion15 Oct 2019

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Health services research
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Parallel groups
Model description
Multi disciplinary randomised controlled trial
Masking
Triple blind
Who is masked
Participant, Investigator, Outcomes assessor
Enrolment
37 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT03710837
Sponsor's protocol ID
095/18
Status last verified
Mar 2020
First submitted
9 Oct 2018
Last updated
23 Mar 2020
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
Individual data sharing
No

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Pain neuroscience education and Red flag education in people with Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice, run by Teesside University at 1 site in United Kingdom.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 1 inclusion and 1 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 23 Mar 2020. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in United Kingdom. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

HC-PAIRS questionnaire (time frame: 6 months). The study lists 4 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 23 Mar 2020.

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