‘Before and After’. The Journey of Patients With Low Back Pain Consulting in Elective Spine Surgery Clinics. A Qualitative Study Protocol

IF 3.2 3区医学 Q2 HEALTH CARE SCIENCES & SERVICES

Health Expectations Pub Date : 2025-05-20 DOI:10.1111/hex.70301

Matthew Fernandez, Deb Lees, Katie de Luca, Dawn Dane, Peter Stilwell, Leanda McKenna, Brigitte Tampin, Caroline Bulsara, Tamar Pincus, Michelle Kendell

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Introduction

Low back pain (LBP) is a highly prevalent and disabling condition. People with LBP may be referred to elective surgical clinics for further evaluation and consideration of surgery. Despite long waits for an initial appointment, many of these patients are not surgical candidates and may be discharged, receiving minimal-to-no care, advice or alternative treatment options, leaving a critical gap in care.

Methods

Approximately 25 participants with dominant, chronic non-specific axial LBP who are (1) referred to and (2) discharged without spinal surgery following consultation in two elective spinal surgery clinics in Western Australia will participate in a one-on-one pre-consultation semi-structured interview and a similar post-consultation qualitative interview. Purposive sampling will be used to recruit participants. Interviews will be audio-recorded and transcribed, underpinned by a qualitative descriptive approach to explore participants' care journey, including pre-consultation expectations and overall experiences post-consultation. We will use inductive content analysis to analyse our data, allowing for the identification of themes that are generated from the participants' responses.

Discussion/Conclusion

This protocol outlines the methodological process for a qualitative study exploring the experiences and expectations of LBP patients before and after consulting in elective spinal surgery clinics in Western Australia. The findings may give rise to consumer-focused solutions to improve the care journey and highlight gaps in patient expectations and understanding of non-surgical management, informing the development of tailored educational resources, communication strategies and new care pathways.

Patient or Public Contribution

This study will incorporate patient and/or public involvement by engaging representatives from Musculoskeletal Australia (https://muscha.org/) to contribute to the study design and interpretation of findings. Specifically, a consumer with lived experience of low back pain will be invited to review and provide feedback on the semi-structured interview questions, to ensure they are appropriate, accessible and reflective of patient experiences.

Clinical Trial Registration

This study is not a clinical trial and is therefore not registered.

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“前后”。选择性脊柱外科诊所中腰痛患者的咨询之旅。定性研究方案

腰痛（LBP）是一种非常普遍和致残的疾病。腰痛患者可转到选择性外科诊所进一步评估和考虑手术。尽管初次预约等待时间很长，但这些患者中的许多人不是手术候选人，可能会出院，接受很少的护理，建议或替代治疗方案，留下一个严重的护理缺口。方法约25名显性慢性非特异性轴向性腰痛患者(1)就诊，(2)在西澳两家选择性脊柱外科诊所会诊后未进行脊柱手术出院，他们将参加一对一的会诊前半结构化访谈和类似的会诊后定性访谈。有目的的抽样将用于招募参与者。访谈将被录音和转录，以定性描述方法为基础，探索参与者的护理历程，包括会诊前的期望和会诊后的总体体验。我们将使用归纳内容分析来分析我们的数据，允许从参与者的回答中识别主题。讨论/结论本方案概述了一项质性研究的方法学过程，该研究探讨了腰痛患者在西澳大利亚择期脊柱外科诊所咨询前后的经验和期望。研究结果可能会产生以消费者为中心的解决方案，以改善护理过程，突出患者对非手术管理的期望和理解的差距，为量身定制的教育资源、沟通策略和新的护理途径的开发提供信息。患者或公众参与本研究将纳入患者和/或公众参与，由澳大利亚肌肉骨骼协会（https://muscha.org/）的代表参与研究设计和结果解释。具体而言，将邀请有过腰痛生活经历的消费者对半结构化访谈问题进行审查并提供反馈，以确保这些问题是适当的、可访问的，并反映了患者的体验。本研究不是临床试验，因此未注册。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Health Expectations 医学-公共卫生、环境卫生与职业卫生

CiteScore

5.20

自引率

9.40%

发文量

251

审稿时长

>12 weeks

期刊介绍： Health Expectations promotes critical thinking and informed debate about all aspects of patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE) in health and social care, health policy and health services research including: • Person-centred care and quality improvement • Patients'' participation in decisions about disease prevention and management • Public perceptions of health services • Citizen involvement in health care policy making and priority-setting • Methods for monitoring and evaluating participation • Empowerment and consumerism • Patients'' role in safety and quality • Patient and public role in health services research • Co-production (researchers working with patients and the public) of research, health care and policy Health Expectations is a quarterly, peer-reviewed journal publishing original research, review articles and critical commentaries. It includes papers which clarify concepts, develop theories, and critically analyse and evaluate specific policies and practices. The Journal provides an inter-disciplinary and international forum in which researchers (including PPIE researchers) from a range of backgrounds and expertise can present their work to other researchers, policy-makers, health care professionals, managers, patients and consumer advocates.