1. Painkiller study - Invitation to take part
Thank you for your interest in this study. We are investigating some of the factors that could affect how people who experience pain on a regular basis use painkillers to control their pain, and how people with pain are affected by using painkillers. Taking part involves completing a questionnaire that we think will take you about 20 minutes. There are a number of sections to complete as we are looking at several aspects of this issue and want to get as complete a picture as possible. For this reason there are also questions about people’s mood, feelings, and how they feel about themselves, including something called ‘self-compassion’.
You are invited to take part if you are affected by pain at least one day per month in the last year and use painkillers to control your pain. The pain might be caused by a diagnosed medical condition, such as arthritis, or it might be a result of injury, or you might even be affected by repeated pains such as headaches or period pains.
Taking part in the study is completely voluntary, and there is no obligation at all to take part. You can stop taking part at any time, and if you change your mind about taking part after completing the questionnaire, you can contact us within four weeks of completing it to have your questionnaire withdrawn if you provide an ID code on the first page. This is a code for you to remember that enables us to find your questionnaire and withdraw it from the study without you having to put your name on it. The study is anonymous, so please do not give your name.
We hope you will find the questionnaires straightforward and interesting to complete. If you have any questions or comments about the study, or would like any further information before taking part, please contact us at j.elander@derby.ac.uk or j.duarte@derby.ac.uk, or 01332 593048.
If you do not have time to take part, or prefer not to take part for any reason, thank you for your time in reading this information.
If taking part raises any emotional issues that you want to discuss with somebody, you could contact the University Counselling Helpline (for University of Derby Students) (Mon-Fri, 3:00-4:00pm) on 01332 591317 (internal ext. 1317), or the University Counselling Service (for University Staff) (01332 591559), or, for anyone, Focusline on 0800 0272127, or the Samaritans, 24 hours a day, on 08457 909090.
If you want to find out more about pain and painkillers, you could visit the website of the British Pain Society at www.britishpainsociety.org or contact info@britishpainsociety.org
Many thanks for your help with this research.
Yours sincerely
Professor James Elander and Joana Duarte