Efficacy of an Online Educational Program to Change Back Pain Beliefs in Physical Therapists

July 28, 2023 updated by: Rafael Zambelli Pinto, Federal University of Minas Gerais

Efficacy of an Online Educational Program to Change Back Pain Beliefs in Physical Therapists: a Randomized Controlled Trial

The goal of this clinical trial is to investigate the efficacy of an online educational program for physical therapists to change back pain beliefs. The main questions it aims to answer are:

- What is the effect of an online educational program to change beliefs about the management of back pain in physical therapists?

A total of 106 physical therapists will be recruited for this study. Participants will be randomized into two groups: intervention and control groups. The intervention group will receive a 6-week online educational program including recommendations from international clinical practice guidelines for the management of back pain. The control group will not receive any intervention. The outcomes of this trial include beliefs about management of back pain and imaging exams and will be assessed at baseline and 6 weeks after randomization.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

106

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

  • Name: Rafael Z Pinto, PhD
  • Phone Number: +55 31 984498278
  • Email: rafaelzp@ufmg.br

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • Brazil
    • Minas Gerais
      • Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, 31270-901
        • Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

16 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • must be a licensed physical therapist;
  • currently managing patients with low back pain, regardless of the duration of symptoms, in clinical practice;
  • if not currently managing patients with low back pain, participants must have treated at least one patient in the last month.

(Patients with low back pain are defined as those patients reporting pain between the lower border of the last vertebral ribs and the gluteal fold, with or without pain referred to the lower limb).

Exclusion Criteria:

  • not having access or reporting difficulty in accessing the internet.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Online educational program
A 6-week educational program delivered online based on information and recommendations from international clinical practice guidelines for the management of back pain.
Other: Online educational program
The intervention group will receive an online educational program, containing current information on low back pain management according to international clinical practice guidelines. Program content includes recommendations on assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of low back pain. The online program has 6 units of studies, with the content offered in the formats of video classes, infographics, texts, websites and clinical cases. The participant must complete the course within 6 weeks and will be able to set their own pace. Participants in the intervention group will receive their login and access password via email.
No Intervention: Control group
The control group will receive no intervention and will be instructed to follow their clinical practice normally.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Modified Back Belief Questionnaire
Time Frame: Post-intervention (i.e. 6 weeks after randomization)
This questionnaire consists of 25 items assessing the following aspects: low back pain outcomes at work and patients' social life, treatment (including medication, surgical procedures, alternative treatments), low back pain prognosis, causes of low back pain and diagnostic methods. The score of each item follows a Likert scale ranging from 1 to 5, where each items mean, 1. "Completely Disagree"; 2. Disagree; 3. "I neither agree nor disagree"; 4. "Agree" and 5; "Completely Agree". To calculate the final score of the questionnaire, the score of each item on the Likert scale is transformed into a score ranging from -2 to 2. The total score of the questionnaire ranges from -50 to 50 points, with values closest to 50 points indicate more adequate beliefs regarding low back pain.
Post-intervention (i.e. 6 weeks after randomization)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Back Pain Attitudes Questionnaire (Back-PAQ)
Time Frame: Post-intervention (i.e. 6 weeks after randomization)
The items in this questionnaire comprise general aspects related to low back pain, including beliefs about pain-related behavior and symptom recovery. The short version of the questionnaire with 10 items will be used. Each item is scored on a 5-point Likert scale. The total score of the questionnaire ranges from -20 to 20, with lower values (or closer to 20) indicating more adequate beliefs.
Post-intervention (i.e. 6 weeks after randomization)
Beliefs regarding imaging exams
Time Frame: Post-intervention (i.e. 6 weeks after randomization)
Beliefs regarding imaging exams will be measured using two statements from a previous study5: Q1- 'X-rays or scans are necessary to get the best medical care for low back pain'; Q2 - 'Everyone with low back pain should have spine imaging (e.g. X-ray, computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging)'. Participants indicated their agreement with each statement on a 5-point Likert scale of 'Strongly Disagree' (1) to 'Strongly Agree' (5). The 5-point Likert responses will be dichotomised into two categories: correct beliefs (disagree or strongly disagree) and incorrect beliefs (neither agree nor disagree, agree or strongly agree) about imaging prescription.
Post-intervention (i.e. 6 weeks after randomization)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Federal University of Minas Gerais

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Rafael Z Pinto, PhD, Universidade Federal de Minas Geral

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

February 1, 2023

Primary Completion (Actual)

July 28, 2023

Study Completion (Actual)

July 28, 2023

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 14, 2022

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 14, 2022

First Posted (Actual)

December 22, 2022

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

August 1, 2023

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 28, 2023

Last Verified

July 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • CAAE 60756422.6.0000.5149

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Low Back Pain

Clinical Trials on Online educational program

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Kenya

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

3
Subscribe