Communication in consultations for persistent physical symptoms.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Communication in consultations between specialists and patients with persistent physical symptoms: a video- and audio-reflexive ethnography study.
IRAS ID
310424
Contact name
Catherine Nagel
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Sheffield
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
This project aims to improve our understanding of what makes a good consultation for people suffering with persistent physical symptoms (PPS). By persistent physical symptoms we mean symptoms that are complex, longstanding and not easily explained by medical tests or scans. PPS are an important part of conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, and functional neurological disorders.
We know that people with PPS are often disappointed in their medical consultations. Previous research has found that doctors often don’t give an explanation for the symptoms. Sometimes doctors provide an explanation that does not make sense to the patient, or is seen as suggesting that the patient’s problem is “all in their mind”. We also know that patients with PPS sometimes do not feel listened to or supported.
While there have been research studies looking at what doctors say, and studies in which patients have described their experiences, there have been no studies about PPS that do both together.
In this research we will ask patients attending specialist clinics to agree to their consultation being recorded for this research. We will then invite some of those patients - depending on what the reason for their appointment was - to take part in a second step. In the second step we will arrange an interview with the patient about their consultation. During the interview we will play back some sections of the recording and ask the patient to describe what they were thinking and how they felt at the time. We will analyse both what is said in the consultation and how the patients interpreted it.
We will look for things that patients found valuable in their consultations as well as things that they found unhelpful. In the longer term, we aim to use the results of this research to improve undergraduate teaching of PPS.
REC name
London - Queen Square Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/PR/1478
Date of REC Opinion
10 Feb 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion