UNIVERSITY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
ETHICS COMMITTEE FOR STUDIES INVOLVING THE USE OF HUMAN PARTICIPANTS
(‘ETHICS COMMITTEE’)
FORM EC6: PARTICIPANT INFORMATION SHEET
I am a post-graduate Physiotherapy Masters student at the University of Hertfordshire. As
part fulfillment for my studies I am conducting a survey for a research project. The title of the
project is:
Cervicogenic headache diagnosis and management: A survey of current practice and
influencing factors of UK based musculoskeletal physiotherapists.
Introduction
You are being invited to take part in the above research study. Before you decide whether
to do so, it is important that you understand the research that is being done and what your
involvement will include. Please take the time to read the following information carefully and
discuss it with others if you wish. Do not hesitate to ask myself or my research supervisor
anything that is not clear or for any further information you would like to help you make your
decision. Please do take your time to decide whether or not you wish to take part. Thank
you for reading this.
What is the purpose of this study?
The aim of this survey is to investigate the current practice of UK musculoskeletal
physiotherapists in the diagnosis and management of patients’ with cervicogenic headaches
(CEHs) and to identify potential factors influencing clinical practice.
What does the study involve?
Participants of the study will be asked to complete a web based questionnaire regarding
their current clinical choices when diagnosing and treating patients with CEHs. No personal
identifiable information will be requested in the study. All responses will be anonymous and
confidential.
In order to achieve a more meaningful result, the aim is to maximize the number of
participants in the study. The nature of the pathology under investigation can make this
difficult and for this reason, if you know of any colleagues who might be appropriate for the
study, it would be greatly appreciated if you could forward the study information to them or
inform them of my contact information if they are interested in participating.
What will happen to me if I take part?
After reading this information, if you chose to complete the questionnaire, you will need to go
to the web link in the explanatory letter, which will take you directly to an online tool called
Bristol Online Surveys (BOS), which is where you will find the questionnaire. It should take
no longer than 10 minutes to fill in. The questionnaire has been designed to make it quick
and easy to complete and involves ticking boxes, with the option to expand on a few
answers. If you don’t have time to fill in the questionnaire fully when you start, you can save
what you have done and return to it at any time.
Do I have to take part?
It is completely up to you whether or not you decide to take part in this study. Agreeing to
join the study does not mean that you have to complete the questionnaire but if you
complete and submit a questionnaire, it will be assumed that you give your consent to be
part of the study. You are free to withdraw at any stage prior to submitting the questionnaire,
without giving a reason.
What are the possible disadvantages, risks or side effects of taking part?
The only disadvantage to participating in the study is the time it takes to fill in but this is not
expected to exceed 10 minutes.
What are the possible benefits of taking part?
By taking part in this study, you would be contributing towards a better understanding of the
challenges physiotherapists have to face when treating CEHs. You would also be
contributing to increasing the evidence base for physiotherapy as a profession.
Sometimes it is difficult to find time to really think about why we make the clinical decisions
that we make as physiotherapists and this study might help you to reflect on your practice,
perhaps even prompt some changes, which might make your job more rewarding. It might
also stimulate an interest to further develop your continuing professional development
(CPD).
Following the study, if you feel you would like to explore the topic in question further, please
email myself or the research supervisor on the contact details below and you can be referred
to the relevant literature or training courses.
How will my taking part in this study be kept confidential?
No personal identifiable information will be requested in the study. Responses will be sent to
the BOS online tool database where some analysis will then be carried out by the BOS
software and results will be generated. The researcher will be sent the results only, which
will be completely anonymous and confidential. Further analysis will then be carried out by
the researcher to identify potential relationships between the physiotherapists’ clinical
practice and certain external factors.
If you have emailed the researcher to request study information and the web link the
researcher will have no way of knowing if you chose to participate or not and there will be no
way to link any of the responses with particular participants. These email addresses will be
deleted from the researcher’s email account as soon as the 3 week reminders have been
sent.
Any information about the study will be electronically stored in password protected files on a
password protected computer. Only the main researcher and the research supervisor will
have access to the study results.
What will happen to the results of the research study?
The survey results will be written in a report which will be made available to all participating
occupational and clinical interest groups and physiotherapists from participating institutions.
It will also be made available on the Interactive CSP website. The report could also be more
widely disseminated to the physiotherapy community via a poster, at a conference
presentation or possibly via a research paper.
The results of the study will not be used as any type of peer review or audit of practice at any
point.
Who has reviewed this study?
This study has been approved by the Health and Science Ethics Committee
HHSECDA Number: aHSK/PG/UH/00149 version 2
Who can I contact if I have any questions?
If you have any further questions, please do contact me directly:
Alison Freeman
Senior Physiotherapist
By email: alifreeman4@hotmail.co.uk
By phone 07780684580
Or my research supervisor:
Linda Exelby,
Senior Physiotherapy Lecturer,
School of Emergency and Health Professions,
Faculty of Health and Human Science,
College Lane,
University of Hertfordshire,
AL10 9AB
by email l.a.exelby@herts.ac.uk
Although we hope it is not the case, if you have any complaints or concerns about
any aspect of the way you have been approached or treated during the course of this
study, please write to the University Secretary and Registrar.
Thank you very much for reading this information and giving consideration to taking
part in this study