ABC-Hip - The Attitudes and Behaviours Concerning HIP Pain Study

Principal Investigator:

Dr Mel Holden

Study Co-ordinator:

Dr Nicola Halliday

Funder name / reference number: Arthritis Research UK Primary Care Centre
UKCRN Study portfolio: CPMS 15949
Year 2014

Study design

An international, cross-sectional survey will be completed in the United Kingdom (UK) and Australia. In the UK, the survey will be mailed to approximately 3000 physiotherapists who are members of one of two Professional Networks of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, or based within the Central England (North spoke) and North West Primary Care Research Networks. In Australia, a link to an online survey will be distributed to physiotherapists nationally, including via email newsletters of the Australian Physiotherapy Association.

The survey will explore physiotherapists’ reported management of a patient with hip OA using a case vignette and clinical management questions. It will also capture demographic and practice data. One-to-one telephone interviews will also be explored with approximately 30 physiotherapists in the UK who return the questionnaire and provide consent for further contact. Interviews will explore survey responses in more detail. 

Primary objective

Physiotherapists are well placed to deliver treatment programmes for older adults with chronic hip pain: they already work within primary care settings to deliver exercise programmes, and they could extend their role to play a more substantive part in providing advice and education about optimising analgesic use, and in delivering weight loss programmes. Before novel physiotherapy interventions can be designed and tested within a randomised controlled trial, it is important to understand how physiotherapy care is currently being delivered for older adults with chronic hip pain, and whether such new approaches would be acceptable to physiotherapists.

This mixed methods research, including both a crosssectional survey and onetoone telephone interviews aims to explore these issues.