Collaborative Clinical ReasoningNCT07802951
Collaborative Clinical Reasoning: Perceptions and Practices of General Practitioners, Physical Therapists, and Patients With Low Back Pain in Primary Care
A study testing Focus groups and deliberative workshop in people with Collaborative Clinical Reasoning, run by Université Catholique de Louvain at 1 site in Belgium.
Trial summary
Low back pain is a major health problem in primary care and is associated with a substantial clinical, economic, and societal burden. Although evidence-based recommendations are available, its management remains heterogeneous, poorly coordinated, and often characterized by overmedicalization. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 to 100 years
- Conditions the study is for
- Collaborative Clinical Reasoning
- What is being tested?
- Focus groups and deliberative workshop
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 225 participants
- Where
- 1 siteBelgium
- Study dates
- Sep 2026to Dec 2027
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
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 to 100 years
- All sexes
- No healthy volunteers
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- General Practitioners
- Be a general practitioner or a physician in postgraduate training in general practice.
- Practice general medicine in French-speaking Belgium.
- Practice general medicine in primary care.
- Physiotherapists
- Be a physiotherapist.
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- Practice physiotherapy in French-speaking Belgium.
- Practice physiotherapy in primary care.
- Patients with low back pain
- Age ≥18 years.
- Have low back pain (pain between the lower margin of the ribs and the gluteal fold, with or without pain in one or both legs).
- Have consulted both a general practitioner and a physiotherapist for this condition in primary care in French-speaking Belgium.
Who cannot join
- General Practitioners
- 1. Be on sick leave during the study (e.g., work incapacity)
- Physiotherapists
- Practice exclusively in a nursing home or a nursing home with skilled nursing care.
- Be on sick leave during the study (e.g., work incapacity).
- Patients with low back pain
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- Have a known specific lumbar pathology (e.g., fracture, infection, cancer, lumbar radiculopathy, etc).
- Have a known general condition that may explain the low back pain (e.g., fibromyalgia, osteoporosis, rheumatologic disease, etc).
- Have undergone back surgery within the past 12 months.
- Be pregnant or have had a known pregnancy within the past 12 months.
- Reside in a nursing home or a nursing home with skilled nursing care.
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
Belgium1 site, 1 recruiting
- Recruiting
UCLouvain - Institute of Health and Society (IRSS)
Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, Brussels Capital, 1200
Olivier Hunin, PT, Msc, +32478836693, olivier.hunin@uclouvain.be
Franck Verschuren, MD, PhD, +32486120571, franck.verschuren@uclouvain.be
About this study
Low back pain is a major health problem in primary care and is associated with a substantial clinical, economic, and societal burden. Although evidence-based recommendations are available, its management remains heterogeneous, poorly coordinated, and often characterized by overmedicalization. In this context, interprofessional collaboration has been identified as a means of improving primary care but does not necessarily ensure a shared understanding of clinical situations. Collaborative Clinical Reasoning (CCR), defined as the process of developing a shared mental model among healthcare professionals and patient partners, remains insufficiently explored in primary care.
This exploratory qualitative study aims to explore the representations and definitions of Collaborative Clinical Reasoning among general practitioners, physiotherapists, and patient partners with low back pain in French-speaking Belgium. It also aims to examine how CCR is implemented in primary care practice and to identify perceived barriers and facilitators to its implementation.
Data will be collected through separate focus groups involving general practitioners, physiotherapists, and patient partners with low back pain. Qualitative data will be analyzed using inductive reflexive thematic analysis.
- Conditions
- Collaborative Clinical Reasoning
- Being tested
- Focus groups and deliberative workshop
- Keywords
- Collaborative Clinical Reasoning, Interprofessional collaboration, Low Back Pain, Primary Care
- Medical subject headings
- Low Back Pain
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Focus groups and deliberative workshopOther
General practitioners, physiotherapists, and patients will first participate in separate focus groups for each stakeholder group. A subsequent mixed deliberative workshop will bring together participants from the three stakeholder groups to discuss and refine the findings.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| General Practitioners, Physiotherapists, and Patients with non-specific low back | Other | Not described Receives: Other: Focus groups and deliberative workshop |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Participants' representations and definitions of Collaborative Clinical Reasoning, identified through reflexive thematic analysis.
Participants' representations and definitions of Collaborative Clinical Reasoning will be explored through qualitative data collected during separate focus groups with general practitioners, physiotherapists, and patients with non-specific low back pain, as well as during a subsequent deliberative workshop bringing together these three participant groups.
Measured: From the initial focus groups to the subsequent deliberative workshop, over an estimated 15-month data collection period.
Secondary outcomes (2)
Enactment of Collaborative Clinical Reasoning in primary care practice, identified through reflexive thematic analysis.
The enactment of Collaborative Clinical Reasoning in primary care practice will be explored through qualitative data collected during separate focus groups with general practitioners, physiotherapists, and patients with non-specific low back pain, as well as during a subsequent deliberative workshop bringing together these three participant groups.
Measured: From the initial focus groups to the subsequent deliberative workshop, over an estimated 15-month data collection period.
Barriers and facilitators to the enactment of Collaborative Clinical Reasoning in primary care practice, identified through reflexive thematic analysis.
Barriers and facilitators influencing the enactment of Collaborative Clinical Reasoning in primary care practice will be explored through qualitative data collected during separate focus groups with general practitioners, physiotherapists, and patients with non-specific low back pain, as well as during a subsequent deliberative workshop bringing together these three participant groups.
Measured: From the initial focus groups to the subsequent deliberative workshop, over an estimated 15-month data collection period.
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted3 Sep 2026
- Study startSep 2026 (estimated)
- Primary completionDec 2027 (estimated)
- Study completionDec 2027 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Collaborative Clinical ReasoningStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
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
- Not applicable
- Intervention model
- Single group
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 225 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Université Catholique de Louvain
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07802951
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- RCC
- Status last verified
- Sep 2026
- First submitted
- 24 Aug 2026
- Last updated
- 10 Sep 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 10 Sep 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Collaborative Clinical Reasoning: Perceptions and Practices of General Practitioners, Physical Therapists, and Patients With Low Back Pain in Primary Care
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07802951
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- RCC
- Conditions
- Collaborative Clinical Reasoning
- Keywords
- Collaborative Clinical Reasoning, Interprofessional collaboration, Low Back Pain, Primary Care
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Recruiting
- Enrolment
- 225 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- Université Catholique de LouvainUniversity, hospital or other
- Study start
- Sep 2026 (estimated)
- Primary completion
- Dec 2027 (estimated)
- Study completion
- Dec 2027 (estimated)
- First posted
- 3 Sep 2026 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
Low back pain is a major health problem in primary care and is associated with a substantial clinical, economic, and societal burden. Although evidence-based recommendations are available, its management remains heterogeneous, poorly coordinated, and often characterized by overmedicalization. In this context, interprofessional collaboration has been identified as a means of improving primary care but does not necessarily ensure a shared understanding of clinical situations. Collaborative Clinical Reasoning (CCR), defined as the process of developing a shared mental model among healthcare professionals and patient partners, remains insufficiently explored in primary care.
This exploratory qualitative study aims to explore the representations and definitions of Collaborative Clinical Reasoning among general practitioners, physiotherapists, and patient partners with low back pain in French-speaking Belgium. It also aims to examine how CCR is implemented in primary care practice and to identify perceived barriers and facilitators to its implementation.
Data will be collected through separate focus groups involving general practitioners, physiotherapists, and patient partners with low back pain. Qualitative data will be analyzed using inductive reflexive thematic analysis.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Health services research
- Allocation
- Not applicable
- Intervention model
- Single group
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 1
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| General Practitioners, Physiotherapists, and Patients with non-specific low back | Other | Other: Focus groups and deliberative workshop |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 to 100 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (12 listed)
- General Practitioners
- Be a general practitioner or a physician in postgraduate training in general practice.
- Practice general medicine in French-speaking Belgium.
- Practice general medicine in primary care.
- Physiotherapists
Key exclusion criteria (11 listed)
- General Practitioners
- 1. Be on sick leave during the study (e.g., work incapacity)
- Physiotherapists
- Practice exclusively in a nursing home or a nursing home with skilled nursing care.
- Be on sick leave during the study (e.g., work incapacity).
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Focus groups and deliberative workshopGeneral practitioners, physiotherapists, and patients will first participate in separate focus groups for each stakeholder group. A subsequent mixed deliberative workshop will bring together participants from the three stakeholder groups to discuss and refine the findings. | Other | General Practitioners, Physiotherapists, and Patients with non-specific low back |
Primary outcome
Participants' representations and definitions of Collaborative Clinical Reasoning, identified through reflexive thematic analysis.
Time frame: From the initial focus groups to the subsequent deliberative workshop, over an estimated 15-month data collection period.
Participants' representations and definitions of Collaborative Clinical Reasoning will be explored through qualitative data collected during separate focus groups with general practitioners, physiotherapists, and patients with non-specific low back pain, as well as during a subsequent deliberative workshop bringing together these three participant groups.
2 secondary outcomes
Enactment of Collaborative Clinical Reasoning in primary care practice, identified through reflexive thematic analysis.
Time frame: From the initial focus groups to the subsequent deliberative workshop, over an estimated 15-month data collection period.
Barriers and facilitators to the enactment of Collaborative Clinical Reasoning in primary care practice, identified through reflexive thematic analysis.
Time frame: From the initial focus groups to the subsequent deliberative workshop, over an estimated 15-month data collection period.
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 10 Sep 2026.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part.
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Focus groups and deliberative workshop in people with Collaborative Clinical Reasoning, run by Université Catholique de Louvain at 1 site in Belgium.
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 12 inclusion and 11 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: looking for participants now, as of the sponsor's last update on 10 Sep 2026. 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 Belgium. 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?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
Contact Olivier Hunin, PT, Msc (+32478836693, olivier.hunin@uclouvain.be), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Participants' representations and definitions of Collaborative Clinical Reasoning, identified through reflexive thematic analysis. (time frame: From the initial focus groups to the subsequent deliberative workshop, over an estimated 15-month data collection period.). 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 10 Sep 2026.