Open AccessNarratives of Patients with Osteoarthritis from Yucatan: A Focus Group Interview Study
Author(s) -
Damaris Estrella-Castillo,
Héctor Rubio-Zapata,
José Álvarez-Nemegyei,
Lizzette Gómez-de-Regil
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
revista biomédica/revista biomédica(en línea)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2007-8447
pISSN - 0188-493X
DOI - 10.32776/revbiomed.v30i3.707
Subject(s) - narrative , active listening , focus group , coping (psychology) , psychology , religiosity , narrative medicine , medicine , clinical psychology , psychotherapist , social psychology , sociology , philosophy , linguistics , anthropology
Narrative Medicine serves to accompanying the patient through the experience of illness, listening to his/her story in a simplified therapeutic role. The aim of this interview-based study was to explore in a group of patients with OA from Yucatan the content of their narratives regarding their illness. Methods: Eight patients with OA participated in five focus group interviews that were tape recorded and transcribed verbatim. Narrative analysis considered the number of mentions and theoretical saturation with three dimensions: pain, stiffness and functional capacity.Results: Pain was associated with quality of life, religiosity and social interactions. Regarding stiffness and functional capacity, participants expressed the appraisal of illness as an inevitable deterioration and a rather passive coping response.Conclusions: Narrative-based evidence on how patients with OA perceive and manage their illness underscore health as a concept where the physical and psychological dimensions are in an ongoing interaction; thus, calling for more sensitivity from the medical community and for a comprehensive interdisciplinary treatment.