Exploring Patient Treatment Preferences for Chronic Pelvic Pain: A Mixed Methods Study

October 23, 2025 updated by: Sara Till, MD, MPH, University of Michigan

This research is studying what things change the way people think about treatment for chronic pelvic pain (CPP). The study team is also interested in whether a web-based educational and self-management program for chronic pelvic pain changes how people think about chronic pelvic pain treatments. The program contains several different self-guided modules that include cognitive and behavioral structuring, self-administration of acupressure, engaging in physical activity, and a brief introduction to pelvic floor physical therapy techniques.

The study hypothesis is that patients with CPP will report that prior treatment experiences and most trusted source of medical information will be associated with baseline perceptions of various CPP treatment modalities.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

30

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 Locations

  • United States
    • Michigan
      • Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States, 48109
        • University of Michigan

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Have chronic pelvic pain, defined as moderate to severe pelvic pain (based on protocol) for greater or equal to(≥) 6-month duration, and is non-cyclic, occurring for at least 14 days of each month.
  • Must be scheduled for a new patient visit with the Chronic Pelvic Pain and Endometriosis Referral Clinic within the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Michigan for treatment of chronic pelvic pain.
  • Access to internet via computer or smartphone
  • English-language proficiency (current version of the website is in English)
  • The study team will attempt to recruit a diverse group of patients, with attention to diversity in race, ethnicity, education level, rural vs urban locality, sexual orientation, and gender identification.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Severe physical impairment precluding participating in internet-based program (for example, complete blindness or deafness)
  • Prior care within the Chronic Pelvic Pain and Endometriosis Referral Clinic within the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Michigan for treatment of chronic pelvic pain (seen previously but meets criteria for new patient visit because > 3 year interval since last clinic visit).

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: Health Services Research
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: My Pelvic Plan
This is a web-based self-guided program.
Behavioral: My Pelvic Plan website
Following the baseline interview, participants will receive a link to a web-based self-guided program and have access for two weeks "My Pelvic Plan" that combines education on several individual conditions that often contribute to CPP, and will include instruction on cognitive and behavioral restructuring, self-administration of acupressure, engaging in physical activity, and a brief introduction to pelvic floor physical therapy techniques. Subsequent to this, participants will then complete another brief questionnaire after a two-week interval. This questionnaire will focus on willingness to consider specific treatment modalities, credibility/expectancy for specific treatment modalities, and a brief measure assessing self-efficacy for managing symptoms.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Explore factors that influence patient perceptions of treatment modalities for chronic pelvic pain
Time Frame: Baseline
Explore prior treatment experiences, attitudes/perceptions of treatment modalities, sources of medical information. Baseline questionnaire and individual structured interview will be used.
Baseline

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in self-reported interest in treatment modalities
Time Frame: Baseline, 3 weeks (post baseline)

To evaluate whether brief exposure to a novel web-based educational and self-management program for chronic pelvic pain increases willingness to consider various treatment modalities one question will be asked.

The question states are participants interested in trying six different treatment modalities and select from "yes, definitely interested", "would consider", "not sure, need to hear more about this option", or "not interested".
Baseline, 3 weeks (post baseline)
Change in credibility/expectancy questionnaire (CEQ)
Time Frame: Baseline, 3 weeks (post baseline)
The CEQ is a self-report measure assessing the credibility and expectancy of treatment received. It consists of 6 items, 4 items with a 9-point Likert-type rating of 1 (not at all) to 5 (very much) with a scoring range of 3-27. The other 2 items are on a percentage scale from 0%-100% in increments of 10 with a scoring range of means 0-100%. Higher scores denote higher treatment credibility and expectancy.
Baseline, 3 weeks (post baseline)

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Michigan

Collaborators

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Sara Till, MD, University of Michigan

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)

April 28, 2025

Primary Completion (Actual)

September 2, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

September 2, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 2, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 2, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

August 6, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimated)

October 27, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 23, 2025

Last Verified

October 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • HUM00253781
  • 1K23HD099283-01A1 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

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

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

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.

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