Use of alginates in the treatment of persistent throat symptoms
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Factors influencing the use of alginates in the treatment of persistent throat symptoms: patient and clinician insight generation
IRAS ID
290065
Contact name
David Hamilton
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
Persistent throat symptoms (PTS) are a very common presentation to the ear, nose and throat department. Ear, nose and throat surgeons see a huge number of patients with symptoms such as a feeling of lump in throat, throat clearing, voice hoarseness, cough , gritty throat etc. Patients are often very concerned and have sought advice from the internet or the GP, sometimes on multiple occasions, and have often tried over the counter remedies. It is thought that a lot of these symptoms are caused by the effects of stomach acid on the throat. In this way PTS makes up a large proportion of the ear, nose and throat department workload. GP's and specialists commonly prescribe proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) in order to try and combat these symptoms by reducing the amount of acid in the stomach. The research team in Newcastle recently demonstrated with a large randomised controlled trial (recently published in the BMJ) that PPI drugs are not effective against PTS.
In this study we seek to explore the patient's perspective of living with PTS and of treating it. Using in depth qualitative interviews we will ask patients about their experience of living with the symptoms and of the measures that they have taken to try and combat them. Specifically we would like to know the sorts of measures that they have taken, their relative success and their experience of seeking out professional advice. Many patients have tried aliginates such as Gaviscon with variable amounts of success. We will explore whether patients have trailed alginates, how long they have persisted for and what other interventions they tried at the same time. We will explore the language that they use surrounding PTS and its treatment. The results of this work will help us to understand the patient experience of the disease and treatment but also help us to develop a trial into the use of alginates in the treatment of persistent throat symptoms.
REC name
HSC REC A
REC reference
21/NI/0186
Date of REC Opinion
20 Jan 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion