A synthesis of qualitative research exploring the barriers to staying in work with chronic musculoskeletal pain

Abstract

(2015) A synthesis of qualitative research exploring the barriers to staying in work with chronic musculoskeletal pain. Disability and Rehabilitation . pp. 1-7. Permanent WRAP URL:http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/69952 Copyright and reuse:The Warwick Research Archive Portal (WRAP) makes this work by researchers of the University of Warwick available open access under the following conditions. Copyright © and all moral rights to the version of the paper presented here belong to the individual author(s) and/or other copyright owners. To the extent reasonable and practicable the material made available in WRAP has been checked for eligibility before being made available.Copies of full items can be used for personal research or study, educational, or not-for profit purposes without prior permission or charge. Provided that the authors, title and full bibliographic details are credited, a hyperlink and/or URL is given for the original metadata page and the content is not changed in any way. The version presented here may differ from the published version or, version of record, if you wish to cite this item you are advised to consult the publisher's version. Please see the 'permanent WRAP URL' above for details on accessing the published version and note that access may require a subscription.For more information, please contact the WRAP Team at: wrap@warwick.ac.uk 1 A synthesis of qualitative research exploring the barriers to staying in work with chronic musculoskeletal pain Abstract Purpose -Qualitative research can help to advance our understanding, management, and prevention of work disability. Our aim was to integrate qualitative research findings in order to increase our understanding of barriers to staying in work with chronic pain.Methods -We searched five electronic bibliographic databases until September 2012, supplemented by citation tracking and hand-searching. We used meta-ethnography to synthesis our findings. Central to metaethnography is identifying 'concepts' and developing a conceptual model. Concepts were compared and organised into categories.Results -The following categories can have an impact on the decision to remain in work: struggling to affirm myself as a good worker; balancing life and work in the face of unpredictable symptoms; my work colleagues don't believe me; the system does not facilitate return to work; the battle for legitimacy.Conclusions -Our innovation is to present an internationally relevant model based on a conceptual synthesis. This model highlights the adversarial work experience of people with chronic. The papers span fifteen years of qualitative research. A significant finding is that these themes continue to pervade the current work environment for those in pain, and this has clear implications for education, social care and policy. 2 IntroductionAround 25% of adults suffer with moderate or severe pain [1][2][3][4][5], and for 6-14 % of these the pain is severe and disabling [6, 7]. People in chronic pain are seven times more likely to give up their jobs, are more likely to r...

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