Rehabilitation after rib fractures: A qualitative study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Rehabilitation after traumatic multiple rib fractures: a qualitative study exploring acceptability of exercise as an intervention for patients after blunt chest trauma
IRAS ID
238488
Contact name
M Cartwright
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
City University
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 7 months, 23 days
Research summary
Blunt chest trauma involves injury to the lungs and ribs, and is often sustained by road traffic collisions or falls from height (May, Hillermann, & Patil, 2016). This injury requires specialist medical management which has advanced greatly over recent years. \n\nDespite this, research into long term outcomes demonstrate negative results in aspects such as pain, breathlessness and quality of life (Fabricant et al., 2013; Marasco et al., 2015), with patients reporting a feeling of helplessness and lack of control in their recovery process (Claydon et al., 2017).\n\nEvidence surrounding the use of exercise for other patient groups indicate that exercise can improve symptoms of breathlessness, exercise tolerance and quality of life (Lacasse et al., 2002), and exercise is routinely used with patients after other injuries and illnesses. It is not however routinely used for patients after chest trauma. \n\nAs there are no established exercise programmes designed for patients after chest trauma, and they are not routinely provided to these patients, early exploratory studies are required for this topic. To address the identified evidence gap, this study focusses on patients’ views of the acceptability of exercise for patients after chest trauma. \n\nPatient and service-user involvement is key to the development and improvement of services, and new interventions (Crawford et al., 2002; Eldridge et al., 2016) and is promoted extensively by the NIHR online (Involve, 2018). \n\nThis study will use one-to-one interviews to explore participants views of the acceptability of exercise during their acute recovery after their chest trauma. Two interviews will be conducted, the first before hospital discharge, and the second 10-14 days after discharge. This will allow full exploration of participants views after experiencing recovery in the different settings.\n\nThis study will provide valuable information to aid the future development and implementation of an exercise intervention for this population.\n
REC name
North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee 1
REC reference
18/NS/0010
Date of REC Opinion
1 Feb 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion