Barriers and facilitators to the delivery of a biopsychosocial education and exercise programme for patients with chronic low back pain in Ghana. A qualitative study

Figures & data

Table 1. Interview topic guide - Physiotherapists.

Thank you for agreeing to take part in this study and thank you for agreeing to discuss your experience. Can you please discuss your physiotherapy experience to date, e.g., length of time qualified, length of time specialist in outpatients? What have been your professional experiences of treating patients with CLBP?

You were asked to deliver treatment according to the research protocol. Did you find the approach much different to your usual practice? Did you have any issues delivering the intervention? Were there any other issues that you experienced? What has been your impression of the intervention? What are your thoughts on patients receiving this treatment for their CLBP? Would you use that approach to manage patient with CLBP management? If so, why? Thinking about the study procedures, e.g., your recruitment / consent taking / training, Did the patients report any problems to you about the trial? Any other comments?

Thank you for your time

Interview topic guide – Patients

Thank you for agreeing to take part in this study and thank you for agreeing to discuss your experience. Will you begin by briefly describing your back complaint, how it affected you? Did you find the physiotherapy helpful / did you get benefit from it? What made you decide to enter the study and did the fact it was part of a research study affect your decision? How useful were the information sheets (given prior to entering the study) in helping you understand what was involved? How did you find the initial research consultation, including consent taking? How have you found the questionnaires? Were they understandable? Were they easy to fill in? Did they take long? Do you think there were important questions that were missing?

Intervention: How did you feel about the intervention you received? Did it feel safe? Did you feel motivated to do the exercises? Regarding the exercises, did you understand exactly what you had to do? Did you do them? Is this what you expected from physiotherapy treatment? Did you encounter any problems completing the exercises? How did you feel about the education you received? Has it made a difference in your perceptions about CLBP? Are there any ways in which you would have preferred the intervention you received? Is there anything further you would like to mention or discuss? Thank you for taking the time to discuss your experience.

Adapted from: Smith et al. [38]

Table 2. Demographic characteristics of interview participants.

Physiotherapists
Participant ID	Gender	Age	Rank	Years of working experience	Specialty
PT1	Male	34	Senior physiotherapist	7	*None
PT2	Male	27	Physiotherapist	2	*None
Patients
Participant ID	Gender	Age	Duration of backpain (months)	Level of education	Employment status	Marital status
P1	Female	41	5	Tertiary	Employed	No answer
P2	Female	47	3	Tertiary	Employed	Married
P3	Female	55	12	Primary	Employed	Single
P4	Male	45	4	Senior high school	Employed	Married
P5	Female	34	3	Tertiary	Self-employed	Married
P6	Male	29	3	Senior high school	Employed	Single

* None: This means the physiotherapist has no post-graduate specialty training and therefore practice generally in all sections of the physiotherapy department.

Table 3. Barriers and facilitators to the delivery of the BPS intervention.

Facilitators
Physiotherapists
Clear and purposeful training Clear details of the content of the BPS intervention Positive physiotherapist patient interaction. Physiotherapists improved understanding and professional development
Patients
Structure and content offered an appealing alternative Patients’ satisfaction with the BPS intervention Patients’ autonomy with the BPS intervention Positive impact of education on patients’ psychosocial indicators Changes to patients’ beliefs Understanding of BPS intervention stimulated positive engagement
Barriers
Patients
Patients’ expectations - Preconceived ideas/perceptions about physiotherapy Influence of patients age as a barrier to engagement Influence of patients’ socio-demographic circumstances as barriers to engagement

Arain M, Campbell MJ, Cooper CL, et al. What is a pilot or feasibility study? A review of current practice and editorial policy. BMC Med Res Methodol. 2010;10(1):67. Dec(doi: 10.1186/1471-2288-10-67.

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Data availability statement

The PI/corresponding author can be contacted for further information or supporting documents.