Brief Educational Video plus Telecare to Enhance Recovery for Older Emergency Department Patients with Acute Musculoskeletal Pain: an update to the study protocol for a randomized controlled trial
Karen Hurka-Richardson,
Timothy F. Platts-Mills,
Samuel A. McLean,
Morris Weinberger,
Sally C. Stearns,
Montika Bush,
Eugenia Quackenbush,
Srihari Chari,
Aileen Aylward,
Kurt Kroenke,
Robert D. Kerns,
Mark A. Weaver,
Francis J. Keefe,
David Berkoff,
Michelle L. Meyer
Affiliations
Karen Hurka-Richardson
Department of Emergency Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Timothy F. Platts-Mills
Ophirex, Inc.
Samuel A. McLean
Department of Emergency Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Morris Weinberger
Department of Health Policy and Management, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Sally C. Stearns
Department of Health Policy and Management, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Montika Bush
Department of Emergency Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Eugenia Quackenbush
Department of Emergency Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Srihari Chari
Department of Emergency Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Aileen Aylward
Department of Emergency Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Kurt Kroenke
Regenstrief Institute and Department of Medicine, Indiana University
Robert D. Kerns
Departments of Psychiatry, Neurology and Psychology, Yale University
Mark A. Weaver
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Elon University
Francis J. Keefe
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University
David Berkoff
Department of Orthopedics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Michelle L. Meyer
Department of Emergency Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Abstract Background This update describes changes to the Brief Educational Tool to Enhance Recovery (BETTER) trial in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods/design The original protocol was published in Trials. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the BETTER trial converted to remote recruitment in April 2020. All recruitment, consent, enrollment, and randomization now occur by phone within 24 h of the acute care visit. Other changes to the original protocol include an expansion of inclusion criteria and addition of new recruitment sites. To increase recruitment numbers, eligibility criteria were expanded to include individuals with chronic pain, non-daily opioid use within 2 weeks of enrollment, presenting musculoskeletal pain (MSP) symptoms for more than 1 week, hospitalization in past 30 days, and not the first time seeking medical treatment for presenting MSP pain. In addition, recruitment sites were expanded to other emergency departments and an orthopedic urgent care clinic. Conclusions Recruiting from an orthopedic urgent care clinic and transitioning to remote operations not only allowed for continued participant enrollment during the pandemic but also resulted in some favorable outcomes, including operational efficiencies, increased enrollment, and broader generalizability. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04118595 . Registered on October 8, 2019.
