A Patient Information Leaflet and Non specific Abdominal Pain
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Evaluation of the impact of a patient information leaflet and adequacy of staff explanations of the diagnosis of non-specific abdominal pain in an acute hospital population
IRAS ID
188320
Contact name
Cathy Price
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Southampton
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 2 months, 7 days
Research summary
Non specific Abdominal pain is very common in the adult population. It refers to abdominal pain where there is no
specific diagnosis and accounts for nearly half of all surgical admissions with abdominal pain. However patients come
into hospital expecting an explanation for their pain yet often pain turns out to be non specific. If the pain is severe and
persistent then this in itself may be upsetting as they may feel disbelieved without a specific diagnostic label.
Explaining to patients what is actually going on may therefore be a challenge. An effective doctorpatient
relationship
is necessary and staff need to be confident in providing explanations and where to seek help. Some may require
simple explanations and reassurance only, others may require in depth assessment and expert input from other
specialties. Such advice is often in scarce supply and indeed may not be necessary if better systems are in place to
provide adequate explanations and advice backed up by guidance as to how to seek help if problems persist.
To improve patient care a rolling staff development programme is planned. A leaflet has been developed for patients
with patient input and piloted by pain clinic staff.
This study aims to evaluate the current effectiveness of staff explanations and the usefulness of an additional current
patient information leaflet through seeking end user views on the usefulness of both staff explanations and written
information.REC name
London - Harrow Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/LO/1948
Date of REC Opinion
9 Nov 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion