Tell me a story about chiropractic for Complex Regional Pain Syndrome: A Story Completion Study

You are being invited to participate in a research study to explore the assessment and management knowledge for Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) in Canadian chiropractors and students. This study is a joint effort of clinicians and researchers interested in CRPS and qualitative research.

Interested in taking part? Click here to go to the survey

What is the purpose of this study?

We want to understand how persons living with CRPS perceive chiropractic treatment as well as what have their experiences been with chiropractic care, if applicable. This insight can be used to develop patient decision aids and tailored intervention programs to optimize chiropractic care for those living with CRPS. Given chiropractors are easily accessed by the public and can offer a range of non-pharmacological interventions, we want understand what people know about how this group of health professionals might contribute to early intervention to mitigate long-term disability To create this knowledge, we are using a relatively new way of generating qualitative data called story completion. All of the stories will be used to construct overall themes based on what people write.

What will my responsibilities be if I take part in the study?

We are inviting you to take part in an online study. We think this will take less than 15 minutes of your time. You will be asked to 1) complete a few demographic questions to tell us about yourself, your CRPS symptoms, and your treatment experiences, and then 2) to finish writing a short story. We will give you the first sentence and then you will be asked to write what happens next.

What are the benefits of participating in this study? Will I be paid to participate?

If you agree to take part, there is no direct financial compensation. The information gained from this study will help to fill in knowledge gaps in research about chiropractic care for CRPS. You may benefit from knowing that you played an important role in helping to advance the research field of CRPS.

What are the risks of participating in this study?

The risks of participating in this study are minimal. You may feel anxious about whether your story is the same or different from others living with CRPS. You may have emotional memories about your experience with CRPS that writing your story brings to the surface. We encourage you to reflect and engage with these feelings and perhaps talk to a friend, family or support person about them. We want you to know that we will not be able to identify you, as the survey is completely anonymous.

How many people will be in this study?

We are hoping to have at least 60 participants in the study. This will help us to generate rich data from which to build themes, because we will have many stories to consider from clinicians who bring different perspectives from their practice.

What information will be kept private?

We will not collect any identifying information. We will ask you to choose a pseudonym that we can use if we take a quote from your story to share when we are writing up the results of our study.

What if I change my mind about being in the study?

Your participation in this study is voluntary. It is your choice to be part of the study or not. If you decide to be part of the study, you can decide to stop (withdraw), at any time, even after starting to write your story. We will not use stories that are shorter than 100 words, so if you stop part way through, we will assume you do not want to participate. If you want to withdraw your story after you have submitted your survey, you will need to contact Derick Luu at luud1@mcmaster.ca or Tara Packham at packhamt@mcmaster.ca or 289-922-8272 and indicate your pseudonym. This will be possible until the survey has closed (anticipated to be in August 2023).

How do I find out what was learned in this study?

We expect to have this study completed by approximately September 2023. If you would like a brief summary of the results, please let us know how you would like it.

If I have any questions, whom can I call?

If you have any questions about the research now or later, please contact Derick Luu at luud1@mcmaster.ca or Dr. Tara Packham at 289-922-8272 or packhamt@mcmaster.ca.

This study has been reviewed by the Hamilton Research Ethics Board (HiREB). The HiREB is responsible for ensuring that participants are informed of the risks associated with research, and that participants are free to decide if participation is right for them.

For the purposes of ensuring proper monitoring of the research study, it is possible that a member of the Hamilton Integrated Research Ethics Board affiliated sites, or regulatory authorities, may consult your research data. By participating in this study, you authorize such access. By participating in this study you do not give up any rights to which you may be entitled under the law.

If you have any questions about your rights as a research participant, please call the Office of the Chair, Hamilton Integrated Research Ethics Board at 1.905.521.2100 x 42013. If you have any questions about the survey content, please contact Dr. Tara Packham at packhamt@mcmaster.ca or Derick Luu at luud1@mcmaster.ca.

Interested?

If you would like to take part, follow this link to the survey: https://surveys.mcmaster.ca/limesurvey/index.php/122699?lang=en

Closing date: 19 December 2023