Implementing a shared decision-making intervention to support treatment decisions for patients following an anterior cruciate ligament rupture — a protocol for the POP-ACLR feasibility study

Journal article

Background: Treatment for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture may follow a surgical or nonsurgical pathway. At present, there is uncertainty around treatment choice. Two shared decision-making tools have been codesigned to support patients to make a decision about treatment following an ACL rupture. The shared decision-making tools include a patient information leaflet and an option grid. We report the protocol for a mixed-methods feasibility study, with nested qualitative interviews, to understand feasibility, acceptability, indicators of effectiveness and implementation factors of these shared decision-making tools (combined to form one shared decision-making intervention). Methods: A single-centre non-randomised feasibility study will be conducted with 20 patients. Patients diagnosed with an ACL rupture following magnetic resonance imaging will be identified from an orthopaedic clinic. The shared decision-making intervention will be delivered during a clinical consultation with a physiotherapist. The primary feasibility outcomes include the following: recruitment rate, fidelity, acceptability and follow-up questionnaire completion. The secondary outcome is the satisfaction with decision scale. The nested qualitative interview will explore experience of using the shared decision-making intervention to understand acceptability, implementation factors and areas for further refinement. Discussion: This study will determine the feasibility of using a newly developed shared decision-making intervention designed to support patients to make a decision about treatment of their ACL rupture. The acceptability and indicators of effectiveness will also be explored. In the long term, the shared decision-making intervention may improve service and patient outcomes and ensure cost-effectiveness for the NHS; ensuring those most likely to benefit from surgical treatment proceed along this pathway. Trial registration: Pending registration on ISRCTN.

Authors: Carter, HM; Beard, DJ; Dodsley, C; Leighton, P; McCallion, J

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: BioMed Central
• Journal: Pilot and Feasibility Studies
• Volume: 10
• Issue: 1
• Article number: 72
• Publication date: 2024-05-07
• Acceptance date: 2024-04-30
• DOI: 10.1186/s40814-024-01503-6
• EISSN: 2055-5784
• ISSN: 2055-5784
• Language: English
• Keywords: Nominal group technique; Extended normalisation process theory; Shared decision-making; Anterior cruciate ligament; Intervention development