NCT06653114

Development and Evaluation of an Educational Program for the Management of Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain

Development and Evaluation of an Educational Program for the Management of Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain, With an Emphasis on Pain Neuroscience and the Development of Communication Skills for Physiotherapists

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 70 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of Thessaly · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 65 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

A controlled randomized study will be conducted to assess the effectiveness of the educational program before and after its implementation. An invitation to participate will be extended to physiotherapists interested in the training program. More than 64 physiotherapists will be randomly assigned to two equal groups. All participants will sign an informed consent form before the commencement of the study and will be informed about the study's content, duration, and their right to withdraw at any time. A structured educational program consisting of two parts will be developed, encompassing three core modules (Part A) on the management of chronic pain and three core modules (Part B) on communication skills and techniques. The modules in Part A of the educational program will focus on elucidating the neurophysiological mechanisms of pain, performing differential assessments based on chronic musculoskeletal pain phenotypes, and addressing and managing the factors contributing to patients' pain experiences and rehabilitation, with a particular emphasis on pain neuroscience education. The modules in Part B of the educational program will concentrate on the development of communication skills essential for effective interaction between patients and physiotherapists. The first group will complete all modules of the educational program, while the second group (control group) will only participate in the Part A education modules. The effectiveness of the program will be evaluated before and after its implementation by two independent examiners through the administration of an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) and the use of reliable and valid questionnaires and scales.

Detailed description

A controlled randomized study will be conducted to assess the effectiveness of the educational program before and after its implementation. An invitation to participate will be extended to physiotherapists interested in the training program. More than 64 physiotherapists will be randomly assigned to two equal groups. All participants will sign an informed consent form before the commencement of the study and will be informed about the study's content, duration, and their right to withdraw at any time. A structured educational program consisting of two parts will be developed, encompassing three core modules (Part A) on the management of chronic pain and three core modules (Part B) on communication skills and techniques. The modules in Part A of the educational program will focus on elucidating the neurophysiological mechanisms of pain, performing differential assessments based on chronic musculoskeletal pain phenotypes, and addressing and managing the factors contributing to patients' pain experiences and rehabilitation, with a particular emphasis on pain neuroscience education. The modules in Part B of the educational program will concentrate on the development of communication skills essential for effective interaction between patients and physiotherapists. The first group will complete all modules of the educational program, while the second group (control group) will only participate in the Part A education modules. The effectiveness of the program will be evaluated before and after its implementation by two independent examiners through the administration of an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) and the use of reliable and valid questionnaires/scales. Upon completion of the program and its evaluation, participants in the control group will have the opportunity to complete the communication skills training as well.

Conditions

• Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain
• Clinical Communication

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Education in Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain	Improving Knowledge and Skills in Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain (Assessment and Management)
OTHER	Education in Communication Skills	Developing Communication Skills (Empathy, Motivational Interviewing, Shared Decision-making)

Timeline

• Start date: 2024-10-19
• Primary completion: 2025-01-11
• Completion: 2025-01-11
• First posted: 2024-10-22
• Last updated: 2025-03-19

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Greece