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What Affects Willingness to Self-manage a Pessary?

Understanding Factors Which Affect Willingness to Self-manage a Pessary for Pelvic Organ Prolapse: A Mixed Methods Study Aiming to Improve Access to Pessary Self-management.

Status
UNKNOWN
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Observational
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05750615
Enrollment
132
Registered
2023-03-01
Start date
2022-08-25
Completion date
2024-03-31
Last updated
2023-03-01

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Prolapse; Female, Prolapse, Vaginal

Brief summary

Pessary self-management is defined as the patient's ability to remove and reinsert their pessary themselves at home. Previous research has suggested that some women may prefer being able to remove and reinsert their pessary as they wish rather than wait for clinic appointments. At the moment, not enough is known about pessary self-management, particularly what makes someone more or less likely to try pessary self-management. The investigators would like to understand this better to try to help women overcome barriers they might face. This study aims to collect data via both questionnaires and interviews to explore willingness to self-manage a pessary. Using findings from the questionnaires and interviews, a group of women who use pessaries and healthcare professionals who provide pessary care will work together to develop a better way to support women to feel able and willing to manage their pessary in future.

Interventions

OTHERUncertain what intervention will be co-created

Uncertain what intervention will be co-created

Sponsors

Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust
Lead SponsorOTHER_GOV

Study design

Observational model
OTHER
Time perspective
PROSPECTIVE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
FEMALE
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

Quantitative phase inclusion criteria * Willing and able to give implied consent by completion of the questionnaire * Female * Over the age of 18 years * Have retained a pessary for pelvic organ prolapse for a minimum of two weeks * Able to speak and understand English * Use a ring, shaatz, cube or inflatable pessary Qualitative phase inclusion criteria * Willing and able to give informed consent * Female * Over the age of 18 years * Have retained a pessary for pelvic organ prolapse for a minimum of two weeks * Speak English or, for those whose first or preferred language is a language other than English, speak a language there is an available interpreter for Intervention development phase inclusion criteria Pessary using women * Willing and able to give informed consent * Female * Over the age of 18 years * Have retained a pessary for pelvic organ prolapse for a minimum of two weeks * Speak English Pessary practitioners * Willing and able to give informed consent * Provide regular pessary care as part of clinical role (defined as insertion or removal of a woman's pessary on a minimum of a monthly basis) * Speak English Pilot phase inclusion criteria * Willing and able to give informed consent, review the intervention and provide written and/or verbal feedback. * Female * Over the age of 18 years * Have retained a pessary for pelvic organ prolapse for a minimum of two weeks * Speak English * Have no previous experience self-managing a pessary (defined as never having removed or inserted their pessary, or received any pessary self-management teaching or support from a healthcare professional)

Exclusion criteria

Quantitative phase

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Willingness to self-manage a pessaryThrough study completion, an average of 1 appointment (1 day)Women will be asked whether they are willing or not to self-manage a pessary for prolapse. This will be a binary yes, no or not sure answer.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
PessaryThrough study completion, an average of 1 appointment (1 day)Type and size of pessary in situ
Length of pessary managementThrough study completion, an average of 1 appointment (1 day)Total months pessary used for
ComorbiditiesThrough study completion, an average of 1 appointment (1 day)Free text data for participant to report diagnosed health conditionns
Self-management experienceThrough study completion, an average of 1 appointment (1 day)The woman will be asked whether she has previously removed or inserted her pessary
AgeThrough study completion, an average of 1 appointment (1 day)Full years since birth
EthnicityThrough study completion, an average of 1 appointment (1 day)Ethnic groups in accordance with UK government agreed list of ethnicities
Post codeThrough study completion, an average of 1 appointment (1 day)Post code at home address to determine deprivation of home address in accordance with UK government index of deprivation
Education statusThrough study completion, an average of 1 appointment (1 day)Women will be asked to report their highest level of education
Female genital self-image score (FGSIS)Through study completion, an average of 1 appointment (1 day)Women will also be asked to complete the Female Genital Self-Image Scale (FGSIS-4), a reliable and validated 4-item questionnaire which measures women's attitude and beliefs about their genitals (Herbenick and Reece, 2010). Scores in the FGSIS-4 range between 4-16, with a mean score of 12 in a nationally representative population of over 2000 American women (Herbenick et al., 2011). Herbenick et al. (2011) have not determined a binary score for high and low FGSIS, however for the purpose of this study, a score of eight or less will indicate low FGSI, whereas more than eight will indicate high FGSI. To score eight or less, a participant must disagree with all four statements describing genital self-image therefore this is deemed to accurately represent FGSIS-4.
Self-management statusThrough study completion, an average of 1 appointment (1 day)The woman will be asked whether she is currently self-managing her pessary (defined as removing and inserting it independently in between clinic appointments)

Countries

United Kingdom

Contacts

Primary ContactLucy Dwyer, BNurs, MSc
lucy.dwyer@mft.nhs.uk01612761234

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026