TY - JOUR
T1 - Integrating users’ perspectives during the development of the Chronic Pain Recommendation Map
T2 - protocol for a qualitative descriptive study
AU - Cordovani, Ligia
AU - Torabiardakani, Kian
AU - Cooper, Lynn
AU - Ritz, Stacey A.
AU - Swidrovich, Jaris
AU - Khalid, Ahmad Firas
AU - Welch, Vivian
AU - Guyatt, Gordon
AU - Schünemann, Holger
AU - Busse, Jason W.
AU - Darzi, Andrea J.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2026. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ Group. This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.
PY - 2026/4
Y1 - 2026/4
N2 - Introduction: One in five people experience chronic pain globally, yet management remains suboptimal and discrepant guideline recommendations are common. To increase pain literacy and improve concordance between evidence and practice, we are developing a freely accessible digital Chronic Pain Recommendation Map (e-Chronic Pain RecMap) focusing on three priority areas: opioids, cannabis and spine-related interventional procedures. The aim of this study is to gather participants’ perspectives on the mockups of the RecMap interfaces throughout its development, in terms of design, usability, content relevance and clarity. Feedback will guide iterative refinements of the platform and align the RecMap with user expectations and needs. Methods: We will use a qualitative descriptive approach to explore participants’ perspectives through online semi-structured interviews. Participants will be purposively sampled to include health researchers, healthcare providers, individuals with living or lived experience of chronic pain and policymakers. Based on information power, we aim to recruit approximately 20 participants, at least 5 participants per target user group, with assessment of sample size adequacy throughout data collection. We will analyse interview transcripts using inductive content analysis and findings will inform iterative refinements to the RecMap’s content and design. To increase methodological rigour, we will apply established qualitative descriptive techniques including detailed description of data analysis, triangulation of investigators, thick data description, dependability, confirmability and reflexivity. Ethics and dissemination: The Hamilton Integrated Research Ethics Board approved this study. We will conduct online interviews and record audio only. After transcription, we will de-identify all collected data and ensure that participants’ names are not linked to any transcripts or study materials. We will share a summary of our final findings with participants and interest-holders via email, and we plan to publish the final manuscript in a peer-reviewed journal.
AB - Introduction: One in five people experience chronic pain globally, yet management remains suboptimal and discrepant guideline recommendations are common. To increase pain literacy and improve concordance between evidence and practice, we are developing a freely accessible digital Chronic Pain Recommendation Map (e-Chronic Pain RecMap) focusing on three priority areas: opioids, cannabis and spine-related interventional procedures. The aim of this study is to gather participants’ perspectives on the mockups of the RecMap interfaces throughout its development, in terms of design, usability, content relevance and clarity. Feedback will guide iterative refinements of the platform and align the RecMap with user expectations and needs. Methods: We will use a qualitative descriptive approach to explore participants’ perspectives through online semi-structured interviews. Participants will be purposively sampled to include health researchers, healthcare providers, individuals with living or lived experience of chronic pain and policymakers. Based on information power, we aim to recruit approximately 20 participants, at least 5 participants per target user group, with assessment of sample size adequacy throughout data collection. We will analyse interview transcripts using inductive content analysis and findings will inform iterative refinements to the RecMap’s content and design. To increase methodological rigour, we will apply established qualitative descriptive techniques including detailed description of data analysis, triangulation of investigators, thick data description, dependability, confirmability and reflexivity. Ethics and dissemination: The Hamilton Integrated Research Ethics Board approved this study. We will conduct online interviews and record audio only. After transcription, we will de-identify all collected data and ensure that participants’ names are not linked to any transcripts or study materials. We will share a summary of our final findings with participants and interest-holders via email, and we plan to publish the final manuscript in a peer-reviewed journal.
KW - Pain management
KW - Protocols & guidelines
KW - QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105037816831
U2 - 10.1136/bmjopen-2025-114523
DO - 10.1136/bmjopen-2025-114523
M3 - Article
C2 - 42082242
AN - SCOPUS:105037816831
SN - 2044-6055
VL - 16
JO - BMJ Open
JF - BMJ Open
IS - 4
ER -