Clinical trial NCT05359900: The Effect of Pain Education on Chiropractic Students' Understanding of Chronic Pain
Official title: The Effect of Pain Education on Chiropractic Students' Understanding of Chronic Pain, Clinical Recommendations and Attitudes Towards People With Chronic Pain
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Pain, Chronic
Education
Lead sponsor: Teesside University
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: London South Bank University
name: McTimoney College of Chiropractic
name: AECC University College
name: University of South Wales
First posted: 2022-05-04
Enrollment: 60
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: Multi-site, single-blind two arm, randomised control trial.

The study would be conducted an five sites in total:

Teesside University; The Welsh institute of Chiropractic - University of South Wales; The AECC University College; McTimoney College of Chiropractic; London Southbank University.

Each site will follow the same protocol. Randomisation will occur at each individual site. Data will be pooled for analysis.
Primary purpose: HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Brief 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. Biomedical management lacks evidence of effectiveness but also has the potential to exacerbate the condition by raising fears and anxiety about potential pathological abnormalities.

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. Pain education research with pre-registration chiropractors is lacking.

Therefore, this study aims to:

To compare the effect of two pain education intervention, through a multi-site randomised control trial, on the following three questionnaire based outcome measures:

1. Knowledge (understanding) of chronic pain
2. Attitudes towards chronic pain patients
3. Pain management behaviours

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 chiropractic education 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

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Current Chiropractic students enrolled at either: Teesside University; The Welsh institute of Chiropractic - University of South Wales; The AECC University College; McTimoney College of Chiropractic; London Southbank University
* Willing to consent to attending two educational sessions followed by completing questionnaires

Exclusion Criteria:

* Chiropractic students not actively enrolled at either: Teesside University; The Welsh institute of Chiropractic - University of South Wales; The AECC University College; McTimoney College of Chiropractic; London Southbank University
* Participants will be excluded if they have previously received in depth education on red flags and or pain neurophysiology.
* Students not willing to consent to attending two educational sessions followed by the completion of questionnaires

Primary outcomes:
measure: The 12-item Revised Pain Neurophysiology Quiz (change assessed)
timeFrame: Immediate and 6-month follow-up
measure: The 10-item Red Flags knowledge questionnaire (change assessed)
timeFrame: Immediate and 6-month follow-up
measure: The 13-item Health Care Providers' Pain and Impairment Relationship Scale (HC-PAIRS) (change assessed)
timeFrame: Immediate and 6-month follow-up
measure: Case vignette (change assessed)
timeFrame: Immediate and 6-month follow-up
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Semi-structured Interviews
timeFrame: 6-month follow-up
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Abingdon
country: United Kingdom
facility: McTimoney College of Chiropractic
city: Bournemouth
country: United Kingdom
facility: The AECC University College
city: London
country: United Kingdom
facility: London Southbank University
city: Pontypridd
country: United Kingdom
facility: The Welsh institute of Chiropractic - University of South Wales
Study officials:
References: