An Exploration of the Impact of Pain Education on GP Practice Staff

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The aim of the research project is to quantify GP practice staffs' knowledge of chronic pain, their attitudes towards people with chronic pain and their management of a hypothetical patient with chronic pain, following a pain education session. The study also seeks to explore GP practice staffs' experience of receiving the pain education, their understanding of pain following the education and if they perceive the education session has impacted upon their daily practice.

Detailed Description
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Inappropriate, biomedical based views of chronic pain are commonly held by health care professionals (HCPs) and these in turn can result in patients receiving sub-optimal care out of step with current guidelines. It has been found that healthcare professionals management techniques did not reflect recognised treatment guidelines and this was associated with their biomedical view of chronic pain. Pain education/training sessions for health care staff may be an important step towards improving patient care for chronic pain. It has been found that there was improvement in nurses' knowledge after 2 different pain education sessions delivered to nurses however there was no long term follow up. Furthermore, no studies have targeted all members of staff at a GP surgery who will interact with the patient, and thus impact upon the care they receive. Pain Neuroscience education (PNE) is an approach to pain education which uses pain science information to shift the belief system of the receiver away from a biomedical understanding of pain to a more biopsychosocial understanding of pain. A number of studies have shown that this education can decrease biomedical attitudes in health care students. Thus, it may be that this education could produce similar positive effects in GP practice staff that could have positive implications for the care of patients with chronic pain. Thus this study aims to assess the impact on attitudes and beliefs of pain education upon staff at a GP surgery in Middlesbrough. Attitudes and beliefs will be assessed before and after the delivery of education. In addition participants will be invited to attend one of two focus groups to further discuss their findings or thoughts about the lecture.

Official Title
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An Exploration of the Impact of Pain Education on GP Practice Staff: a Mixed Methods Study

Conditions
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Chronic Pain

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: Pain education


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria Clinical non-NHS staff at a Middlesbrough GP Surgery. Exclusion Criteria Non-clinical staff at a Middlesbrough GP surgery and staff who are not directly employed by the Surgery.

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Clinical staff<br>All clinical staff employed at one surgery in Middlesbrough, UK who wish to participate | Other: Pain education<br>* 70 minute lecture about chronic pain and one focus group afterwards<br>* Other names: Therapeutic neurophysiology education;|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| HC-PAIRS | 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. | 70 minutes | 
| Revised pain neurophysiology quiz | Measures knowledge of pain physiology using a 12 point validated questionnaire. Low score is poor sign. Scores range from 0-12. | 70 minutes | 
| 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. | 70 minutes | 
| Interviews - qualitative assessment | Interviews to assess perception and intended application of lecture material | 1 hour | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Chronic pain, Staff attitudes and beliefs, Education, GP surgery