Table 3.

Results of survey amongst 33 participating GPs

GP opinions on why recruitment failed in the PACE Plus trial	Total number of comments (% of total comments)
1. Patient factors:	26 (32%)
1.1 Patient had other expectations when seeking care for low back pain	14
1.2 Patients were confident they could self-manage their low back pain	7
1.3 Patient declined participation	5
2. GP factors:	39 (48%)
2.1 Insufficient number of patients meeting criteria were seen in practice or spoken to on the telephone	20
2.2 Lack of time or trial forgotten because of other tasks	14
2.3 The trial had just started or had not yet started in the practice	3
2.4 Not all employees of the practice were sufficiently informed about the trial	2
3. Research factors:	16 (20%)
3.1 Medication distribution procedure too complicated	7
3.2 Research question and design irrelevant for clinical practice	4
3.3 Inclusion and exclusion criteria too restrictive	2
3.4 Research logistics disturb usual clinical care	2
3.5 Problems in communication with research department	1
Total number of comments from 33 GPs:	81 (100%)