None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
We are conducting this online trial to determine if different diagnostic labels and their explanations impact consumer beliefs about hip pain and its management in adults who have had and have not had hip pain. It is unclear how diagnostic labels of chronic hip pain and their explanations impact beliefs about treatments of hip pain. Qualitative literature links pathoanatomically framed diagnoses and information about hip with the belief that exercise is potentially harmful and that surgery is necessary to fix or cure hip pain. However, these findings are yet to be confirmed by an experimental study. This study will thus aim to determine the effects of three diagnostic labels on consumer beliefs about hip pain and its management: 1) hip osteoarthritis, with a modern explanation; 2) chronic hip pain, with a psychosocial explanation of pain; 3) hip degeneration, with a pathoanatomic explanation. The trial will be administered in one single online survey. Participants will initially answer screening questions to determine eligibility. All eligible participants will then read the same hypothetical hip problem, and then complete baseline outcome measures before being randomly allocated to one of the three diagnostic label groups. After reading the diagnostic label and explanation they were assigned, all participants will complete the outcome measures again.
Interventions
All participants will be asked to read a scenario explaining a hypothetical hip pain problem. Participants will then be randomised to one of three diagnostic labels and an explanation about it: 1) hip osteoarthritis, 2) persistent hip pain, and 3) hip degeneration.
Hip osteoarthritis and chronic hip pain are the two intervention groups. Hip degeneration is the control group.
The diagnostic labels and explanations were developed by drawing on clinical guidelines, evidence-based definitions of
All participants will be asked to read a scenario explaining a hypothetical hip pain problem. Participants will then be randomised to one of three diagnostic labels and an explanation about it: 1) hip osteoarthritis, 2) persistent hip pain, and 3) hip degeneration. Hip osteoarthritis and chronic hip pain are the two intervention groups. Hip degeneration is the control group. The diagnostic labels and explanations were developed by drawing on clinical guidelines, evidence-based definitions of pain and hip osteoarthritis, and qualitative literature of the lived experiences of people with hip pain. We developed the hip osteoarthritis diagnostic label and explanation by drawing on recommended modern definitions of osteoarthritis. The persistent hip pain study arm is a non-specific diagnostic label incorporating a biopsychosocial explanation of pain. Participants in all groups will be asked to tick a box to confirm that they had read their assigned diagnostic label and its explanation. This intervention will be delivered once, as a single online survey. Participants will access the survey through an online link, provided to them by the company CINT (a consumer panel company). The survey will take approximately 15 minutes to complete - with approximately 5 minutes of reading time of the clinical scenario, diagnoses, and explanations, and aproximately 10 minutes to complete pre and post-intervention outcome measures. The treatment groups will differ in the way they are explained. For example: 1) hip osteoarthritis will use a modern definition of hip osteoarthritis, describing how osteoarthritis may start, potential contributing causes, and the role of joint repair in the disease process 2) persistent hip pain draws on contemporary evidence and definitions of pain, describing potential biopsychosocial contributors to pain, such as fear and emotions. 3) hip degeneration attributes hip pain to things such as age and wear and tear.
Sponsors
The University of Melbourne
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Blinded (masking used) (Caregiver, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
45 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
i) Aged 45 years or over; ii) Have, or have not, experienced any activity-related hip joint pain in the past 3 months; iii) Currently living in Australia; iv) are able to easily understand written English;
Exclusion criteria
Have had a joint replacement in any of their hip joints.
Outcome results
None listed