Project overview
People experiencing muscle and joint pain often feel low in their mood. This is commonly identified and treated as depression. However, this may be pain-related distress. Pain-related distress is a normal response to experiencing pain, but may present similarly to depression (feeling sad, not taking part in usual activities etc). The De-STRESS study explored pain-related distress in people with chronic muscle and joint pain, however, there is little research exploring pain-related distress in people attending primary care services for shorter-term pain. This is important because people’s thoughts and emotions when experiencing short-term pain can influence whether pain continues long-term. Additionally, first contact physiotherapists – physiotherapists based in GP practices to see patients with muscle and joint pain – are now part of the primary care team. So far, no research has explored first contact physiotherapists’ views and experiences of pain-related distress. This study aims to explore these unanswered questions.
There are three workstreams to this study:
1. Investigating whether pain-related distress changes depending on how long people have had their pain, and whether the impact of pain effects distress. This will be investigated using numerical data collected from an existing database, from people who had consulted their GP practice for musculoskeletal pain.
2. Exploring people’s experiences of pain-related distress at different points in their pain experience. We will follow-up with people who reported short-term pain in the De-STRESS study who agreed to be contacted for future research. They will be sent a questionnaire, and some people will be invited to take part in an interview to explore any changes they reported in their pain and distress since the first questionnaire.
3. Exploring first contact physiotherapists’ views and experiences of pain-related distress, and their experiences of recognising and treating this in an appointment. We will interview around 20 first contact physiotherapists.
The findings from this research will have important impact for people with muscle and joint pain. By recognising pain-related distress, first contact physiotherapists and other healthcare professionals will be able to deliver more personal care, meaning that people will receive treatments relevant to them, leading to less pain and better wellbeing.
There are three workstreams to this study:
1. Investigating whether pain-related distress changes depending on how long people have had their pain, and whether the impact of pain effects distress. This will be investigated using numerical data collected from an existing database, from people who had consulted their GP practice for musculoskeletal pain.
2. Exploring people’s experiences of pain-related distress at different points in their pain experience. We will follow-up with people who reported short-term pain in the De-STRESS study who agreed to be contacted for future research. They will be sent a questionnaire, and some people will be invited to take part in an interview to explore any changes they reported in their pain and distress since the first questionnaire.
3. Exploring first contact physiotherapists’ views and experiences of pain-related distress, and their experiences of recognising and treating this in an appointment. We will interview around 20 first contact physiotherapists.
The findings from this research will have important impact for people with muscle and joint pain. By recognising pain-related distress, first contact physiotherapists and other healthcare professionals will be able to deliver more personal care, meaning that people will receive treatments relevant to them, leading to less pain and better wellbeing.