Living with non-cardiac chest pain—a qualitative study of spouses’ perspectives

Abstract

Background Recurrent non-cardiac chest pain (NCCP) has a negative impact on patients’ lives, including functional impairment, impaired quality of life, and psychological distress. However, there is a lack of knowledge regarding the impact of NCCP on the spouses of these patients. Therefore, this study aimed to explore spouses´ experiences of living with a partner suffering from NCCP. Methods This study is part of a project that evaluated the effects of a nurse-led internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy (iCBT) program on cardiac anxiety in patients with NCCP. Ten spouses of partners who participated in the iCBT study were interviewed individually. Data was inductively analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results The findings portray the spouses’ experiences of living with a partner suffering from NCCP. Three categories and nine subcategories were identified. In the first category, “a feeling of being neglected”, spouses described feeling ignored and excluded by healthcare professionals and kept out by the partner. The second category, “a tension between the hope and despair”, contained various feelings related to faith, compassion, and support, the feeling of being unprepared to deal with the chest pain, and frustration over the situation. Finally, in the third category, “a threat to ordinary life”, spouses reported changes that were caused by chest pain that negatively affected different areas of their lives, such as everyday life and economy, leisure activities, and couple relationships. Conclusions NCCP in partners had an emotional and practical impact on the lives of their spouses. Spouses described feeling neglected and uninvited; feeling tension between hope and despair, where faith and hope met powerlessness and frustration over the situation; and struggles in everyday life and couple relationships in relation to the challenges related to NCCP. Trial Registration The study was registered on 01/11/2017 at ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03336112; https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03336112