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The negotiation of the sick role: general practitioners’ classification of patients with medically unexplained symptoms
Author(s) -
MikMeyer Nanna,
Obling Anne Roelsgaard
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
sociology of health and illness
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1467-9566
pISSN - 0141-9889
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9566.2011.01448.x
Subject(s) - negotiation , legitimacy , global positioning system , sick role , qualitative research , psychology , sick leave , process (computing) , social psychology , medicine , applied psychology , medline , sociology , computer science , law , political science , social science , physical therapy , operating system , telecommunications , politics
In encounters between general practitioners (GPs) and patients with medically unexplained symptoms (MUS), the negotiation of the sick role is a social process. In this process, GPs not only use traditional biomedical diagnostic tools but also rely on their own opinions and evaluations of a patient’s particular circumstances in deciding whether that patient is legitimately sick. The doctor is thus a gatekeeper of legitimacy. This article presents results from a qualitative interview study conducted in Denmark with GPs concerning their approach to patients with MUS. We employ a symbolic interaction approach that pays special attention to the external validation of the sick role, making GPs’ accounts of such patients particularly relevant. One of the article’s main findings is that GPs’ criteria for judging the legitimacy of claims by those patients that present with MUS are influenced by the extent to which GPs are able to constitute these patients as people with social problems and problematic personality traits.