The thoughts and feelings held by clinicians about the delivery of a placebo intervention in an osteoarthritis rehabilitation trial

• Main Authors: Jones, Lucy (Author), Adams, Jo (Author), White, Peter (Author), Donovan-Hall, Maggie (Author), Hislop, Kelly (Author), Barbosa Boucas Jeffery, Sofia (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2013-07-30.
• Subjects: Article
• Online Access: Get fulltext

The OTTER (OsTeoarthritis Thumb ThERapy) pilot randomized controlled trial, has been funded by Arthritis Research UK to compare three intervention arms for basal thumb joint OA. These are optimal occupational therapy (OT) intervention; optimal OT intervention plus thumb base splint and optimal OT intervention plus placebo splint. The use of a placebo splint in OA is novel and it may help identify specific and non-specific effects of splinting as current efficacy is unknown. It is recognized that clinicians' attitudes, feelings and beliefs about a treatment and the therapeutic interaction can impact on patient experience and outcomes. This study aimed to explore the thoughts and feelings of the collaborating OTTER clinicians who would be delivering the trial placebo splint to understand their perspective and to identify how these feelings may affect them personally, professionally and practically. The results informed support and training for the trial clinicians.