The symptom experience of newly diagnosed Chinese patients with Crohn's disease: A longitudinal qualitative study

Abstract

AimsTo longitudinally explore the symptom experience of Chinese patients with Crohn's disease within the first year following their diagnosis.DesignA longitudinal qualitative study.MethodEighteen newly diagnosed Chinese patients with Crohn's disease were recruited through purposive sampling. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted at four time points: soon after diagnosis, 3, 6 and 12 months post‐diagnosis. Data were collected between January 2021 and February 2022. Conventional content analysis was used for data analysis of each time point. Afterwards, the data of each time point were compared longitudinally. COREQ checklist was followed.ResultsThree themes and eight sub‐themes were formed through analysis: feelings towards symptoms (symptoms make me feel uneasy, symptoms make me feel inferior and symptoms make me feel helpless); acceptability of symptoms (difficult to accept, have to accept, be able to accept); functions of symptoms (assessing disease conditions and treatment effects, warning of disease management).ConclusionsOverall, the negative emotions related to symptoms gradually decreased over time, and the patient's acceptance of symptoms increased within the first year following diagnosis. In addition, when the disease was in remission after treatment, the warning function of symptoms gradually weakened.ImpactThe process of how patients accept their symptoms found in this study provides a basis for nurses to improve patients' acceptance of symptoms and reduce their symptom‐related negative emotions. This study also emphasizes the phenomenon that patients gradually ignore some symptoms with their increased acceptance level, which warrants additional health education to strengthen their awareness of self‐management.Patient or public contributionNo patient or public contribution was required to design or undertake this study. Patients contributed only to the data collection and member checking.

Experience of Disease Acceptance in Chinese Patients with Newly Diagnosed Crohn’s Disease: A Descriptive Qualitative Study

“…Another study involving newly diagnosed CD patients also revealed three phases of symptom acceptability: difficult to accept, have to accept and be able to accept. 17 Although there are some similarities between the two studies, ours is different in the following aspects. First, Chen’s study focused on the acceptability of symptoms only, whereas our study addressed a broader concept of disease acceptance.…”

“… 16 A longitudinal qualitative study explored the phases of acceptability of symptoms in newly diagnosed CD patients. 17 In addition, a supportive environment may act as a catalyst for patient acceptance of the disease. Young adults with IBD and stoma, after an initial phase of anger, began to travel along a predictable path of acceptance and growth as patient education and support services were strengthened and the experiences of stoma management increased.…”

Symptom management experiences of Chinese individuals with Crohn's disease: A longitudinal descriptive qualitative study

“…This study is part of a larger longitudinal qualitative research program aimed at investigating the experiences related to symptoms in individuals with CD. A previous study utilizing the data on symptom perception has been published (Chen & Zhou, 2023). Longitudinal qualitative research involves collecting data at least two different time points from the same participants (Nevedal et al, 2019), and focuses on the lived experiences of changes over time (Audulv et al, 2022;Calman et al, 2013).…”