Psychological Impact of Notification Exercises - Version 4.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Psychological Impact of Dental Notification Exercises - Patient Questionnaire Study
IRAS ID
209696
Contact name
Lorna Hopps
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 8 months, 1 days
Research summary
Following the diagnosis of a healthcare worker with a blood borne virus (BBV) or discovery of inadequate cross infection control within a health care setting, a risk of BBV transmission is created. Patients are notified of this risk via letter and usually offered counselling and BBV testing; a patient notification exercise. Our study involves waiting for an exercise such as this to take place and following confirmation of the completion of testing/distribution of results from the health board, we intend to post a questionnaire to notified patients. This questionnaire aims to establish the level of anxiety felt upon notification, how notification will affect their use of dental services in the future and the actions taken following notification and why. We also wish to gather opinion on when patients feel they should be notified under these types of circumstances; when risk exists but is estimated to be very low. The questionnaires will be posted out by the health board using the list of exposed patients they created during the management of the exercise. The questionnaire itself will feature an informed consent section which will outline that by completing and posting the questionnaire the respondent consents to participating in the research study and their responses being analysed and anonymously published in scientific journal papers, theses and/or presented at scientific conferences. The questionnaire will feature open and closed questions and the data created will be statistically analysed and presented in graphical forms. The questionnaire will take roughly 15 minutes to complete and a free post envelope will be provided to facilitate postage to the chief investigator – a University of Glasgow PhD student. The questionnaire's design will be influenced by a small set (~10) of pre-study 'think aloud' interviews where personal contacts of the investigators record their thoughts and feelings about the questionnaire's design.
REC name
South Central - Berkshire B Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/SC/0053
Date of REC Opinion
8 Feb 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion