Results
lateral elbow tendinopathy, pain
RECRUITMENT, TENNIS ELBOW
From a total of 50 participants recruited to the OPTimisE pilot and feasibility trial, 45 gave permission to be contacted to discuss taking part in a qualitative interview. Twenty-four of these patients were invited to be interviewed and 17 participated. One other patient initially agreed to be interviewed but later changed their mind due to busy work and personal schedules. The other six did not respond to email and telephone follow-up. The median age of participants was 47 (range 37–62) with an even split related to sex and treatment group allocation within the trial. Individuals from a range of ethnic and social backgrounds were included, representative of the demographic of the general population. Thirteen identified as white British, one white other, one Pakistani, one Sri Lankan and one Kosovar. Median deprivation score was 6 (range 1–10), where 1 is the highest level of deprivation and 10 is the lowest level of deprivation, measured in deciles. Median symptoms duration was 6 months (range 2–36) and median baseline Patient Reported Tennis Elbow Evaluation (PRTEE) score was 47 (range 18.5–93). The PRTEE is a measure of pain and function at the time of recruitment to the OPTimisE trial. The scale ranges from 0 to 100, with 100 being the highest level of pain and functional impairment. Demographic data is provided in Participant demographicsFour themes were identified from the data: (1) the cause of onset, (2) impact on everyday life, (3) self-help and understanding of the condition and (4) the healthcare provision that participants had received. The coding tree is displayed in Coding tree. GP, general practitioner; LTE, lateral elbow tendinopathy; NSAID, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug.