Living with hepatitis C: a phenomenological study

Abstract

Nurses working within a chronic care framework of ongoing advice and support can improve experiences for those living with hepatitis C. Practice aimed at reducing both the disruptive effect of the diagnosis and the uncertainties it creates can help facilitate a transition to life with the disease.

Living with Hepatitis C Virus: A Systematic Review and Narrative Synthesis of Qualitative Literature

“…Seventeen studies were conducted in Australia [21–23, 25, 30, 32, 33, 38, 39, 51, 53, 56–59, 64, 65], fifteen in the UK [24, 31, 34, 35, 37, 40, 46, 47, 49, 52, 55, 60, 61, 63, 66], eight in the United States [26, 27, 36, 41, 43, 48, 54, 62], four in Canada [28, 29, 45, 50], and one each from Pakistan [42] and France [44]. The studies were published between 1999 [39] and 2014 [40, 48].…”

“…The studies were published between 1999 [39] and 2014 [40, 48]. Data in these studies were analyzed using a variety of methods, including thematic and content analysis [21–23, 27, 45, 48, 56, 60, 64], inductive approach [28, 54, 57, 59], grounded theory [30, 32, 35, 46, 63], framework approach [61], phenomenological approach [31, 37, 40, 43, 51, 52, 66], interpretive approach [33, 39], and constant comparative analysis [41, 50]. Various software programs were used by these studies: NVivo [28, 29, 47, 48, 55, 62], atlas.ti [21–23, 26], and QSR ∗ NUDIST [41].…”

“…Study participants reported a variety of physical symptoms, such as fatigue [27, 30, 33–36, 40, 42, 46, 54, 62, 64, 66], weakness [27, 35], nausea [27, 30, 34, 64], pain [27, 34, 36, 42, 64, 66], swelling [27], headaches [30, 64], and sweating [30]. In addition, a number of studies reported participants experiencing psychological symptoms such as depression [27, 30, 66], anxiety or panic attacks [35], and irritability [36, 62].…”

“…Next customer'” [56]. Participants also voiced that their experience of diagnosis was more distressing when they were not given sufficient information [25, 33, 40] or when they felt that the information was delivered insensitively (e.g., over the phone [25]).…”

“…Many patients believed that they were treated insensitively [40, 47, 53, 60], adequate time was not spent with them [64], confusing medical terms were used [64], and healthcare practitioners refused them treatment [47, 65]. …”