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Research

Our internationally renowned research programme in pain and musculoskeletal disorders in primary care is underpinned by high-quality cohorts and randomised clinical trials (with linkage to medical records) and supported by qualitative research.

Our overall aim is to deliver high quality multidisciplinary research designed to improve the content, delivery and configuration of primary care for the benefit of patients with musculoskeletal conditions.

The objectives of our research are:

  • To provide reliable estimates of the occurrence and distribution of pain and musculoskeletal disorders in the population, and their long-term impact on population health and working life [population epidemiology]
  • To describe the long-term course of pain and musculoskeletal disorders and identify risk factors for their onset, persistence and progression as potential targets for intervention [population and clinical epidemiology]
  • To characterise the patterns of primary care consultation, diagnosis, episodes and outcomes of care for pain and musculoskeletal disorders using routinely collected information from medical records  [consultation epidemiology]
  • To provide evidence and develop practical tools to inform clinical decision making and assist in the assessment, diagnosis, prognosis, and monitoring of individual patients with pain and musculoskeletal disorders in primary care  [clinical epidemiology]
  • To evaluate the clinical and cost-effectiveness of existing and new interventions and models of care for pain and musculoskeletal disorders, with special emphasis on individualising care and optimising the role of the multidisciplinary primary care team [trials]
  • To provide up-to-date syntheses of research evidence on pain and musculoskeletal disorders for stakeholders (researchers, service managers, practitioners, public/patients, funders, and policy-makers) [systematic reviews and meta analysis]
  • To explore the personal experience and impact of pain and musculoskeletal disorders and people’s expectations and experiences of primary health care [qualitative research and social science]
  • To explore and evaluate ways of involving patients in formulating research questions and designing appropriate, credible interventions [patient and public involvement]
  • To develop, test and apply innovative methodology in primary care research [methodology]
  • To test the feasibility of incorporating interventions shown to be effective in research projects, into clinical practice [Clinical effectiveness and implementation]
  • To improve awareness and knowledge of pain and musculoskeletal disorders and their management among the general public and primary health care practitioners [dissemination and implementation]