PIS: MAmMOTH

PIS: MAmMOTH

MAmMOTH: COVID-19 and musculoskeletal health
during lockdown (CONTAIN)

PARTICIPANT INFORMATION SHEET

What is the purpose of the study?

You have previously taken part in the Maintaining Musculoskeletal Health (MAmMOTH) study, conducted by the Epidemiology Group at the University of Aberdeen. As an extension to this study we are now, during the COVID 19 pandemic, contacting you about your current health and how this has changed since we previously contacted you. We are also interested in your recent experience of healthcare, and what you perceive as your current and future healthcare needs.

Why have I been chosen?

You have been invited because you took part in the MAmMOTH study conducted by the Epidemiology Group at the University of Aberdeen and gave us permission to contact you about future research opportunities.

Do I have to take part?

No. You do not have to take part unless you want to. If you decide to take part you are free to withdraw at any time and without giving a reason. A decision to withdraw at any time, or a decision not to take part, will not affect the standard of care you receive.

What will taking part involve?

We will ask you to complete one online survey. The survey will take less than 20 minutes to complete. You will also be asked if you would like to take part in an interview, although we will only need to interview a very small proportion of respondents, and you don’t have to agree to this in order to take part in the study.

What will you be asked?

You will be asked questions about yourself (including your employment), your physical and mental health, and your lifestyle (including smoking, drinking and exercise). Some of these questions are considered sensitive data, such as questions on your mental health. We will also ask you at the end of the study if you would be happy to be interviewed. The interview would likely last 60 minutes and be by telephone or computer link. We will only need to interview a small number of people. It is still valuable for us, if you complete the questionnaire, even if you don’t want to be interviewed.

How will we use information about you?

We will need to use information from you for this research project. The data you provide in this study will be linked with data you provided as part of your involvement in the MamMOTH study.

This information will include your name and contact details. People will use this information to do the research or to check your records to make sure that the research is being done properly. People who do not need to know who you are will not be able to see your name or contact details. Your data will have a code number instead.

We will keep all information about you safe and secure. Once we have finished the study, we will keep some of the data so we can check the results. We will write our reports in a way that no-one can work out that you took part in the study.

What are your choices about how your information is used?

You can stop being part of the study at any time, without giving a reason, but we will keep information about you that we already have. We need to manage your records in specific ways for the research to be reliable. This means that we won’t be able to let you see or change the data we hold about you. If you agree to take part in this study, you will have the option to take part in future research using your data saved from this study.

Where can you find out more about how your information is used?

You can find out more about how we use your information:

What are the possible disadvantages and risks of taking part?

Completing the online survey should only take 20 minutes of your time. Some participants may become or distressed when answering the questions. If you require additional support a list of useful organisations are provided at the end of the questionnaire.

What are the possible benefits of taking part?

There are no direct benefits for you in taking part. However you will be helping with our research to understand how the pandemic (and lockdown in particular) has affected the health of people with musculoskeletal symptoms and specific conditions, and to understand what are their health needs, to inform planning health care.

What if I have a complaint?

If you have any concerns with any aspect of this study please ask to speak to the researchers who will do their best to answer your questions – contact details are at the end of this Participant Information Sheet.

If you remain unhappy and wish to make a formal complaint, you can do this through the NHS complaints procedure. Further information about this can be obtained from https://nhsnss.org/contact-us/

Will my taking part in this study be kept confidential?

All information that is collected about you during the course of the research will be kept strictly confidential.

Who is organising and funding the research?

The study is sponsored and organised by The University of Aberdeen and is funded by a grant from Versus Arthritis and the British Society for Rheumatology.

Who has reviewed the study?

This study has been reviewed and approved by South West - Cornwall & Plymouth Research Ethics Committee.

Contact for further information

For further information about the study, please contact us at contain@abdn.ac.uk

You can download an offline version of this document here.

Source: MAmMOTH Epi027 CONTAIN Sub-study Participant Invitation Sheet 29 May 2020 Version 1