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Richardson, JC, Ong, BN and Sim, J (2008) Experiencing and controlling time in everyday life with chronic widespread pain: a qualitative study. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 9. 3 -?. ISSN 1471-2474
Experiencing and controlling time in everyday life with chronic widespread pain: a qualitative study.pdf - Published Version
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: Chronic widespread pain (CWP) affects 10% of adults and often causes significant disability in everyday life. Research on time in chronic conditions has focused on biographical disruption and perceptions of past and future. However, more mundane aspects of time are also disrupted in a condition such as CWP, which is uncertain on a minute-to-minute, day-to-day basis, as well as in the longer term. The results presented here are part of a wider study, the aim of which was to explore how people with CWP experience and give meaning to their 'condition'. This article focuses on how mundane, repetitive and taken-for-granted aspects of everyday life are disrupted for people with CWP. METHODS: Eight people aged 40-60 years living with CWP took part in multiple in-depth interviews, diaries and family interviews, exploring the meanings and interpretations of participants and individuals' experiences in a social context. RESULTS: The findings illuminate the ways in which the experience of time is changed by CWP: carrying out the tasks of everyday life takes longer, routines are disrupted, and changes are needed in how time is managed. Some strategies for managing these tasks rely on ability to control one's time. However, this is not always possible and, for some, the experience of CWP becomes characterised by lack of such control. CONCLUSION: This study explored the concept of controllable time in the experience of CWP. Regaining control over time is an important element in coping with chronic pain, and helping patients to regain such control has potential as a target for health professionals involved in pain management.
Item Type: | Article |
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Additional Information: | © 2008 Richardson et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Uncontrolled Keywords: | activities of daily living, adaptation, psychological, adult, chronic disease, disease management, female, humans, interviews as topic, middle aged, pain, pain management, qualitative research, quality of life, time |
Subjects: | R Medicine > R Medicine (General) |
Divisions: | Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Primary Care Health Sciences |
Related URLs: | |
Depositing User: | Symplectic |
Date Deposited: | 23 Jun 2016 09:16 |
Last Modified: | 23 Jun 2016 09:16 |
URI: | https://eprints.keele.ac.uk/id/eprint/1929 |