Developing foot pain research: The impact of patient involvement on the design of a postal questionnaire and research clinic
2010 Conference
Abstract:
Painful osteoarthritis is one of the most common health problems in later life. Osteoarthritis research has mainly concentrated on hip, knee and hand joints, with few studies of foot pain. This study aims to find out how foot pain develops and changes over time and how people manage it. All adults 50+ registered with two practices will be sent a postal health questionnaire. Responders reporting foot pain will then be invited to a research clinic.
This presentation describes involvement of patients from our innovative Virtual Users’ Panel in the design of the health questionnaire and running of the foot study research clinics. We highlight how involvement has benefited the study.
For the questionnaire, patients advised researchers on overall formatting and a new footwear section. They highlighted three ways in which this section was unclear. The researchers then addressed these problems and redesigned some of the questions. One example was confusion whether both men and women should complete all footwear diagrams. New instructions were therefore added.
Some patients involved in the design of the questionnaire went on to advise researchers on the running of the research clinics. Advice was gained on running order, pace and patient experience of being assessed.
Discussion will focus on different ways of getting advice on research design from patients. The audience will learn about advantages and disadvantages of different methods and this may help them in the future.
About the authors:
Clare Jinks is a researcher who works at the Arthritis Research UK National Primary Care Centre. She has experience of setting up and running research users’ groups. She provides advice to researchers who want to develop PPI in research grants through the West Midlands Research Design Service.
Pauline Colclough is a member of the Virtual Users’ Panel at the Arthritis Research UK National Primary Care Centre. With experience of foot pain she helped researchers to design a new footwear section for a postal questionnaire.
Carol Rhodes is the Research User Support Worker at the Arthritis Research UK National Primary Care Centre. Her role is to match requests for user involvement from researchers to the experiences of users, and to provide support to users. This includes generating lay information and providing help to attending meetings.
Domenica Coxon is a PhD student at the Arthritis Research UK National Primary Care Centre. She has experience of qualitative interviewing. She is using PPI in her PhD to understand what factors influence patients when deciding whether to consult general practice for joint pain.
Martin Thomas is a research physiotherapist working at the Arthritis Research UK National Primary Care Centre. He is a member of a study team researching foot pain and osteoarthritis in adults aged 50 years and older living in the community. Arthritis Research UK funds this study.
Authors
Colclough ~ Pauline
Member, Virtual Users' Panel, Arthritis Research UK National Primary Care Centre
View all articles by this authorCoxon ~ Domenica
PhD Student, Arthritis Research UK National Primary Care Centre
View all articles by this authorJinks ~ Clare
Clare Jinks is a researcher who works at the Arthritis Research UK Primary Care Centre. Her research interest is Osteoarthritis. She has experience of setting up and running research users' groups. She has provided advice to researchers and clinicians who want to develop PPI in their research.
View all articles by this authorRhodes ~ Carol
PPI Coordinator, Keele University Primary Care Centre. Carol has fibromyalgia, a musculoskeletal condition.She was an accountant by background but after a year off due to her condition she is now enjoying her new role as PPI Coordinator at Keele Primary Care Centre, where she works with a group of 30 patients involved in musculoskeletal research projects.
View all articles by this authorThomas ~ Martin
Research Physiotherapist, Arthritis Research UK National Primary Care Centre, Keele University
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