How do individuals respond to a diagnosis of 3PD? version 1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
How do individuals make sense of and respond to a diagnosis of Persistent Postural Perceptual Dizziness (3PD)?
IRAS ID
269319
Contact name
Louisa Murdin
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Guy's & St Thomas' Foundation NHS Trust
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
-, -
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 4 months, 5 days
Research summary
Persistent postural-perceptual dizziness (3PD) is a newly defined diagnostic syndrome presenting with complaints of persistent dizziness and unsteadiness. Once recognised, treatment starts with educating the patient about the diagnosis, followed by recommending appropriate therapy depending on their needs. Treatment options include physiotherapy, medication and cognitive-behavioural therapy. Thus, identifying peoples beliefs, expectations and attitudes is an essential platform for developing a plan of care.
The importance of labels has long been acknowledged to go beyond the simple utility of classification. They carry meaning out of the clinic and into the real world, and influence how patients and others might respond. A label can change someones perception of the illness for the better or worse and has been shown to influence outcome.
Since this is a new diagnostic label, little is known about patients’ preferences and perceptions of it. A preliminary service evaluation suggested that it is an acceptable term unlikely to cause offence, but that it may be hard for them to get their head round the terminology. There is a theoretical concern that the use of terms such “persistent” could influence beliefs about possible outcome.
The objective of this study is to interview patients with a new diagnosis of 3PD in order to ascertain what people understand about the diagnosis of 3PD and how their own meanings affect their expectations and illness perceptions. Participants will be selected from a specialist balance clinic at Guys Hospital with a diagnosis of 3PD. Two medical students will conduct a semi-structured interview and the transcripts will be analysed to identify themes.
REC name
London - Fulham Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/LO/1482
Date of REC Opinion
23 Oct 2019
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion