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Dr. Dennis C. Turk<\/p><\/div>\u201cWe specifically took a pharmacological treatment with the hope to provide some symptomatic improvement along with a behavioral treatment to try to change how people with fibromyalgia think about their condition,\u201d explained Dr. Turk, the John and Emma Bonica Endowed Chair and Professor of Anesthesiology & Pain Research and Director of the UW Center for Pain Research on Impact, Measurement, & Effectiveness. \u201cWe are really looking to see if there are additive benefits to having that combination versus each of those treatments individually.\u201d <\/p>\n
Dr. Turk and his study team have encountered a number of challenges in recruiting patients for this trial due to the study\u2019s inclusion and exclusion criteria. For example, study enrollees cannot be taking any drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat fibromyalgia. Potential enrollees also needed to have a willingness to be part of a drug study. In addition, the team is seeking to recruit an appropriate number of men, who have a much lower incidence of fibromyalgia, as well as enrolling an appropriate sample of minority patients. As a result of these collective criteria, roughly 90% of all potential enrollees were being screened out once identified, forcing the study team to cast a wider net.<\/p>\n
Some of the trial recruitment strategies the team is pursuing are advertising in local newspapers, buses, and radio. They have also posted announcements in local movie theaters, around the UW campus, and in minority community newsletters. The team has conducted outreach to patients in the Chronic Fatigue Clinic at Harborview Medical Center and the Center for Pain Relief at the UW Medical Center, and has talked with a number of clergy and health centers that serve predominantly minority populations.<\/p>\n