A qualitative study of the consequences of knee symptoms: 'It's like you're an athlete and you go to a couch potato'

Abstract

Objectives: To explore the perceived consequences of knee symptoms on the lives of people aged 35-65 years who had diagnosed osteoarthritis (OA) or OA-like symptoms.

Design: A qualitative study with six focus groups and 10 one-on-one interviews. Constructivist grounded theory guided data collection and analysis. Data were analysed using the constant comparative method.

Setting: Toronto, Canada.

Participants: 51 participants (median age 49; 61% female) who self-reported knee OA or reported knee pain, aching or stiffness on most days of the past month participated in the study.

Results: The core finding, disruption and change, illustrates the range of perceived consequences of knee symptoms in peoples' lives. Participants described the consequences of symptoms on their physical activity (giving up high-level activities or changing how or how much they performed activities), social life (leisure, family and work) and emotional life. Knee symptoms also altered the way participants thought about their bodies and themselves. They reported that they had a new awareness of their knee and that they no longer trusted their knee. They also conveyed that their sense of self was altered.

Conclusions: This study illuminates the significant and varied consequences that mild to moderate knee symptoms have on the lives of adults age 35-65 years. Findings highlight the need for clinicians to tailor advice and support to the individual's needs considering their symptoms, the consequences of symptoms on their lives and their personal context.

Keywords: HEALTH SERVICES ADMINISTRATION & MANAGEMENT; QUALITATIVE RESEARCH; RHEUMATOLOGY.

Figure 1

Core category: disruption and change. Under the core category, two main categories of disruption and change were generated: (1) Disrupted physical, social and emotional life, which includes three aspects of disruption: physical disruption, emotional disruption and social disruption; and (2) An altered way of thinking about the body and self, which includes changes in how people thought about their bodies (a new awareness and a lack of trust in their knee) and an altered sense of self. The arrows indicate the potential reciprocal influences within categories and across these categories. The role of personal context is indicated by situating the categories within the person's individual context.