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Contact Information:

Hilary Lewis
h.lewis1@leeds.ac.uk


Hilary Lewis
h.lewis1@leeds.ac.uk


Sinead Audsley
sinead.audsley@nihr.ac.uk


Hilary Lewis
h.lewis1@leeds.ac.uk


Study Location:

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Be Part of Research - Trial Details - Understanding specialist treatment for people with PPS

Understanding specialist treatment for people with PPS

Completed

Open to: Female / Male

Age: 18 Years - 120 Years

Medical Conditions

General symptoms and signs


This information is provided directly by researchers, and we recognise that it isn't always easy to understand. We are working with researchers to improve the accessibility of this information. In some summaries, you may come across links to external websites. These websites will have more information to help you better understand the study.


Why are we doing this research?
“Persistent physical symptoms” (PPS) describes a range of physical symptoms, such as pain and fatigue, that are not fully explained by a known physical disease. People with severe PPS may have symptoms lasting for years, causing difficulty leaving the home or looking after themselves.

A multidisciplinary approach has been recommended – where different health professionals, such as physiotherapists, psychotherapists and occupational therapists, work together with the patient. Yet there are only a small number of multidisciplinary teams in the UK that specialise in treating people with PPS. Most people are seen in other services that have limited guidance for their work. We want to better understand how the specialist PPS teams provide treatment. We are interested in the parts of the multidisciplinary treatment that are not yet clearly described – in how these teams help people to carry out normal daily tasks and take part in the world around them.

What will we do?
A researcher will spend between 5-10 weeks in three different specialist PPS services. They will observe the treatment provided, focussing on the parts of treatment that help people re-engage with important daily activities. They will interview the patients to understand what they find most and least helpful. The health care professionals providing the treatment will also be interviewed, to help us understand what they believe makes treatment effective.

What will we achieve?
We will have a better understanding of this specialist treatment, and what helps and hinders its delivery. This will be taken forward into another research study, where we will describe this treatment in a manual for other healthcare professionals. This manual could be shared with other services. It is hoped we could also use this manual to test whether this treatment does indeed help people, in a future research trial.

Start dates may differ between countries and research sites. The research team are responsible for keeping the information up-to-date.  

The recruitment start and end dates are as follows:

05 Mar 2024 13 Dec 2024

Observational

Observational type: Qualitative;



You can take part if:



You may not be able to take part if:


PATIENTS: Patients will be excluded if: • They lack capacity to consent • The clinical team judges that involvement may negatively impact their care and well-being STAFF: Whilst no staff member will be excluded, it is likely that observations will focus upon permanent members of the team, rather than students or agency staff. However, if it is judged that their involvement may add to the understanding of the treatment, they will be invited to participate. CARERS will be excluded if they lack capacity to consent.


Below are the locations for where you can take part in the trial. Please note that not all sites may be open.

Hilary Lewis
h.lewis1@leeds.ac.uk


Hilary Lewis
h.lewis1@leeds.ac.uk


Hilary Lewis
h.lewis1@leeds.ac.uk


Sinead Audsley
sinead.audsley@nihr.ac.uk



The study is sponsored by University of Leeds and funded by NIHR Academy .




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for Trial ID: CPMS 57173

Last updated 25 April 2025

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