An investigation of patients’ perceptions of vestibular testing
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A qualitative investigation of patients’ perceptions of vestibular testing.
IRAS ID
210778
Contact name
Rosemary Monk
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Aston University
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 3 months, 27 days
Research summary
The research will explore patients’ perspectives and experiences of diagnostic balance testing. There are numerous studies ((Churchill & Warden, 2014) (Doyle et al, 2016)) which have demonstrated how a positive patient experience can increase a patient’s likelihood of engaging with the recommended medication or treatment pathways thus improving the health outcomes for the patient. Doyle et al (2016) show how a positive patient experience can improve health outcomes. At this stage there has been little research into examining patient experiences within diagnostic vestibular (balance) testing so we need to establish whether the patient’s experiences are positive or negative or both as at present we do not know. Using patient experiences may therefore help improve approaches to treatment and rehabilitation.
This study will use qualitative methods to explore patient experience of the diagnostic balance service. Qualitative research is an exploratory research style and can often bring important insights into the study and provide rich descriptions of complex phenomena that is not found in quantitative studies. Adults referred from Ear, Nose and Throat for investigations due to balance problems and who have not had any previous experience of the testing will be used in this study. There is a growing recognition of the value of synthesising qualitative research in the evidence base (Thomas & Harden, 2008) in order to facilitate effective and appropriate policy and practice.
Aims: to perform two 30 minute semi-structured interviews with participants. However, due to the potential limitations in the recruitment process, which aims to control for coercion, participants may only give consent in the clinic on the day of their appointment and therefore will undergo their interview post-testing thus providing a retrospective view of their pre-test opinions. Separate analysis will then have to account for these participants who had a retrospective interview compared to those who had two separate pre and post-test interviews. Additionally if a participant is not feeling well enough to complete the post-test interview they will likely withdraw consent and their data will be separately analysed accordingly. The first before they undergo testing and the second up to 30 minutes afterwards. During the research the interviews will be recorded and the information provided will be transcribed ensuring the full conversation is documented. The information will then undergo Thematic analysis to generate themes or identify patterns within the conversation data. Thematic analysis will be used as it is one of the most common forms of analysis in qualitative research and will enable themes to be generated within the information obtained, building a picture of the experiences and perceptions patients have of the appointment which could inform future clinical practice and studies, by helping the audiologists to understand the patients concerns and experiences. The information obtained will also help improve the patient information provided about the tests.
REC name
HSC REC B
REC reference
16/NI/0270
Date of REC Opinion
19 Dec 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion