Browsing by Person "Barlas, Panos"

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Evaluating Acupuncture and Standard carE for pregnant women with Back pain (EASE Back): a feasibility study and pilot randomised trial
(NIHR Journals Library, 2016-04-01) Foster, Nadine E.; Bishop, Annette; Bartlam, Bernadette; Ogollah, Reuben; Barlas, Panos; Holden, Melanie A.; Ismail, Khaled M. K.; Jowett, Sue; Kettle, Christine; Kigozi, Jesse; Lewis, Martyn; Lloyd, Alison; Waterfield, Jackie; Young, Julie
Background: Many pregnant women experience low back pain. Acupuncture appears to be a safe, promising intervention but evidence is needed about its clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. Objectives: To assess the feasibility of a future large randomised controlled trial (RCT) testing the additional benefit of adding acupuncture to standard care (SC) for pregnancy-related back pain.
Physical Therapists' Views and Experiences of Pregnancy-Related Low Back Pain and the Role of Acupuncture: Qualitative Exploration
(Oxford, 2015-09-01) Waterfield, Jackie; Bartlam, Bernadette; Bishop, Annette; Holden, Melanie A.; Barlas, Panos; Foster, Nadine E.
Background Low back pain is often accepted as a normal- part of pregnancy. Despite research suggesting that quality of life for women who are pregnant is adversely affected, most are advised to self-manage. Although the use of acupuncture for the management of persistent nonspecific low back pain has been recommended in recent UK national guidelines, its use in the management of pregnancy-related low back pain remains limited. Objectives This study aimed to explore the perceptions and experiences of physical therapists involved in treating women who are pregnant and have low back pain with the objective of informing the pretrial training program for a pilot randomized trial (Evaluating Acupuncture and Standard care for pregnant womEn with Back pain [EASE Back]). Design A qualitative phenomenological method with purposive sampling was used in the study. Methods Three focus groups and 3 individual semistructured interviews were undertaken, and an iterative exploratory thematic analysis was performed. To ensure transparency of the research process and the decisions made, an audit trail was created. Results Twenty-one physical therapists participated, and emergent issues included: a lack of experience in treating pregnancy-related complaints, mixed messages from previous acupuncture education, a mistrust of the current evidence for acupuncture safety and effectiveness, and personal and professional fear of causing harm. Conclusions The findings suggest that UK physical therapists are reluctant to use acupuncture in the management of pregnancy-related low back pain. The explanations for these findings include perceived lack of knowledge and confidence, as well as a pervasive professional culture of caution, particularly fears of inducing early labor and of litigation. These findings have been key to informing the content of the training program for physical therapists delivering acupuncture within the pilot EASE Back trial.
The Role of Qualitative Research in Clinical Trial Development
(2016-07-13) Bartlam, Bernadette; Waterfield, Jackie; Bishop, Annette; Holden, Melanie A.; Barlas, Panos; Ismail, Khaled M. K.; Kettle, Christine; Foster, Nadine E.
This article outlines the rationale for adopting a mixed methods approach within randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and explores challenges associated in doing so. Taking the example of the EASE Back feasibility and pilot study (Evaluating Acupuncture and Standard care for pregnant womEn with BACK pain: ISRCTN49955124), we detail why and how we operationalized a concurrent-sequential mixed methods research design. We present key findings from the exploratory research (focus groups and interviews) and explain how these were integrated with descriptive findings (a national survey of physical therapists) in order to inform and refine the design of the explanatory phase (the pilot RCT). We conclude with a discussion of lessons learned and implications for future research design and conduct.