The experience of living with knee osteoarthritis: exploring illness and treatment beliefs through thematic analysis

Purpose: Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a major cause of disability in older adults. However, there is limited research on the daily experience of living with knee OA. We aimed to offer insight into the beliefs of patients with knee OA about their illness and treatment. Method: Twenty-four semi-str...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Pouli, Nektaria, das Nair, Roshan, Lincoln, Nadina, Walsh, David A.
Format: Article
Published: Taylor & Francis 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34370/
_version_ 1848794836829732864
author Pouli, Nektaria
das Nair, Roshan
Lincoln, Nadina
Walsh, David A.
author_facet Pouli, Nektaria
das Nair, Roshan
Lincoln, Nadina
Walsh, David A.
author_sort Pouli, Nektaria
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Purpose: Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a major cause of disability in older adults. However, there is limited research on the daily experience of living with knee OA. We aimed to offer insight into the beliefs of patients with knee OA about their illness and treatment. Method: Twenty-four semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 women and 7 men with physician-diagnosed knee OA, aged between 48 and 84 years (mean 1/4 62, SD 1/4 7). The audio-taped interviews lasted from 30 min to 1 h, and were transcribed verbatim. The data were subjected to thematic analysis. The transcripts were independently coded by two researchers to increase reliability of coding. Results: Six themes were developed and two of these are examined in further detail: (i) Illness representation and (ii) Beliefs about the medical and surgical control of pain. Illness representation comprised beliefs about people’s understanding of OA and their pain experience, as well as expectations about the course of illness. The second theme presented experiences of limited pain relief and concerns about the use of drugs and surgery. Conclusion: Exploring illness representations and beliefs about medical and surgical control of pain may provide the basis for initiating psychological interventions for people with knee OA.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T19:22:32Z
format Article
id nottingham-34370
institution University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T19:22:32Z
publishDate 2013
publisher Taylor & Francis
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling nottingham-343702020-05-04T16:37:13Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34370/ The experience of living with knee osteoarthritis: exploring illness and treatment beliefs through thematic analysis Pouli, Nektaria das Nair, Roshan Lincoln, Nadina Walsh, David A. Purpose: Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a major cause of disability in older adults. However, there is limited research on the daily experience of living with knee OA. We aimed to offer insight into the beliefs of patients with knee OA about their illness and treatment. Method: Twenty-four semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 women and 7 men with physician-diagnosed knee OA, aged between 48 and 84 years (mean 1/4 62, SD 1/4 7). The audio-taped interviews lasted from 30 min to 1 h, and were transcribed verbatim. The data were subjected to thematic analysis. The transcripts were independently coded by two researchers to increase reliability of coding. Results: Six themes were developed and two of these are examined in further detail: (i) Illness representation and (ii) Beliefs about the medical and surgical control of pain. Illness representation comprised beliefs about people’s understanding of OA and their pain experience, as well as expectations about the course of illness. The second theme presented experiences of limited pain relief and concerns about the use of drugs and surgery. Conclusion: Exploring illness representations and beliefs about medical and surgical control of pain may provide the basis for initiating psychological interventions for people with knee OA. Taylor & Francis 2013-06-21 Article PeerReviewed Pouli, Nektaria, das Nair, Roshan, Lincoln, Nadina and Walsh, David A. (2013) The experience of living with knee osteoarthritis: exploring illness and treatment beliefs through thematic analysis. Disability and Rehabilitation, 36 (7). pp. 600-607. ISSN 1464-5165 Knee Osteoarthritis Pain http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/09638288.2013.805257 doi:10.3109/09638288.2013.805257 doi:10.3109/09638288.2013.805257
spellingShingle Knee
Osteoarthritis
Pain
Pouli, Nektaria
das Nair, Roshan
Lincoln, Nadina
Walsh, David A.
The experience of living with knee osteoarthritis: exploring illness and treatment beliefs through thematic analysis
title The experience of living with knee osteoarthritis: exploring illness and treatment beliefs through thematic analysis
title_full The experience of living with knee osteoarthritis: exploring illness and treatment beliefs through thematic analysis
title_fullStr The experience of living with knee osteoarthritis: exploring illness and treatment beliefs through thematic analysis
title_full_unstemmed The experience of living with knee osteoarthritis: exploring illness and treatment beliefs through thematic analysis
title_short The experience of living with knee osteoarthritis: exploring illness and treatment beliefs through thematic analysis
title_sort experience of living with knee osteoarthritis: exploring illness and treatment beliefs through thematic analysis
topic Knee
Osteoarthritis
Pain
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34370/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34370/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34370/