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

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

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.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Chronic Pain
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Pain education

Detailed Description

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.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 15

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United Kingdom
  • Middlesbrough, United Kingdom, TS5 6HA
    • Linthorpe Surgery

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: N/A
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

All non-NHS clinical staff at Linthorpe Surgery, principally nurses and doctors.

Description

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.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Observational Models: Case-Only
• Time Perspectives: Cross-Sectional

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Clinical staff; All clinical staff employed at one surgery in Middlesbrough, UK who wish to participate	Other: Pain education; 70 minute lecture about chronic pain and one focus group afterwards; Other Names: Pain neurophysiology education; Therapeutic neurophysiology education

What is the study measuring?

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

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Teesside University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: J Mankelow, MSc, Teesside University

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Mankelow J, Ryan CG, Green PW, Taylor PC, Martin D. An exploration of primary care healthcare professionals' understanding of pain and pain management following a brief pain science education. BMC Med Educ. 2022 Mar 28;22(1):211. doi: 10.1186/s12909-022-03265-2.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): November 1, 2019
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 20, 2019
• Study Completion (Actual): December 20, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 7, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 7, 2020
• First Posted (Actual): October 14, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 7, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 6, 2021
• Last Verified: May 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Chronic pain; Education; Staff attitudes and beliefs; GP surgery
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pain; Neurologic Manifestations; Chronic Pain
• Other Study ID Numbers: 205/18

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No