Perspectives and experiences of people who were randomly assigned to wait-and-see approach in a gluteal tendinopathy trial: a qualitative follow-up study

Abstract

Objective To explore participants’ perspectives on, and experiences of, being assigned to a wait-and-see arm of a gluteal tendinopathy trial.Design Descriptive qualitative.Setting General community in Brisbane and Melbourne, Australia.Participants Fifteen participants who had been randomly allocated to the wait-and-see group in a recent parallel group superiority clinical trial. That trial compared the wait-and-see approach to a physiotherapist-led education plus exercise approach, and an ultrasound-guided corticosteroid injection. The wait-and-see approach involved one physiotherapy session in which participants received reassurance, general advice and encouragement to stay active for the management of gluteal tendinopathy.Data collection and analysis Semistructured interviews were conducted by four interviewers in person or over the internet, audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Transcripts were coded and data analysed using an inductive thematic approach.Results Five themes were extracted from the interview transcripts: (1) Feeling disenfranchised by being assigned to a wait-and-see approach; (2) the importance of having a clinical and imaging diagnosis during screening for inclusion into the clinical trial; (3) feelings regarding the effectiveness of the approach; (4) the convenient and easy to follow nature of the wait-and-see approach and (5) the connotation of wait-and-see not always being perceived as an intervention.Conclusions Participants found the wait-and-see approach convenient and easy to follow, yet almost always felt disenfranchised that nothing was being done. Participants highlighted the importance of a definite clinical and imaging diagnosis.Trial registration number ACTRN12612001126808; Post-results.