Women's experiences of fatigue in chronic illness

Kralik, Debbie; Telford, Kerry; Price, Kay; Koch, Tina

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2648.2005.03602.x

Cited by 48 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Our findings resonate to a certain extent with findings of others (Piper, Lindsey, Dodd, 1987;Richardson, 1995;Krupp and Christidoulou, 2001;Kralik, Telford, Price et al 2005;Ameringer and Smith, 2011), however none of these studies offered relational dimensions between the themes or segregates nor mention tiredness or exhaustion as part of the conceptualisation. The ethnoscience approach was instrumental to advancing the conceptualisation of the progressive continuum of fatigue through utilising taxonomical displays where relationships between different levels (domains, segregates, sub-segregates) were featured.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 72%

Understanding the meaning of fatigue at the end of life: An ethnoscience approach

Kirshbaum

Olson

Pongthavornkamol

et al. 2013

European Journal of Oncology Nursing

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Purpose: Fatigue is a devastating state of body and mind associated with distress at the end of life. We report the results of the third in a series of papers outlining a novel approach we have developed for understanding the meaning of fatigue by exploring how this meaning is shaped by beliefs and values. The aims of the study were to examine the perception and experiences of fatigue held by patients attending a hospice in England; identify the behavioural patterns that distinguish fatigue from tiredness and exhaustion; provide conceptual definitions of tiredness, fatigue and exhaustion.Method: An Ethnoscience design was selected. The sample comprised nine people who attended a hospice between May and December 2009. Inclusion criteria included: at least 18 years of age, experiencing fatigue, able to provide informed consent and resident in the selected city in northern England for 10 years. Data were collected from two consecutive semi-structured interviews for each participant. Results:We found that tiredness, fatigue and exhaustion are markers of progressive functional decline. Fatigue had two dimensions: 1) Mental Challenge, which included: emotional effects, cognitive realisation of decline and mental tenacity and 2) Physical Challenge, which included: limitations in leisure activities, limitations in functional roles and re-patterning routines. 2Conclusions: This study provides evidence that symptom experience is socially constructed, which has potential implications for the development of effective interventions.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 72%

Understanding the meaning of fatigue at the end of life: An ethnoscience approach

Kirshbaum

Olson

Pongthavornkamol

et al. 2013

European Journal of Oncology Nursing

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“…Fatigue is a common problem in individuals with chronic illnesses and this subjective symptom worries the individuals. Healthcare professionals have to learn communication techniques to help individuals to express concerns about fatigue [38,39]. More research is needed to find the best way of treating fatigue in people with rheumatic diseases.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors promoting health-related quality of life in people with rheumatic diseases: a 12 month longitudinal study

Arvidsson

Fridlund

et al. 2011

BMC Musculoskelet Disord

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BackgroundRheumatic diseases have a significant adverse impact on the individual from physical, mental and social aspects, resulting in a low health-related quality of life (HRQL). There is a lack of longitudinal studies on HRQL in people with rheumatic diseases that focus on factors promoting HRQL instead of risk factors. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between suggested health promoting factors at baseline and outcome in HRQL at a 12 month follow-up in people with rheumatic diseases.MethodsA longitudinal cohort study was conducted in 185 individuals with rheumatic diseases with questionnaires one week and 12 months after rehabilitation in a Swedish rheumatology clinic. HRQL was assessed by SF-36 together with suggested health factors. The associations between SF-36 subscales and the health factors were analysed by multivariable logistic regressions.ResultsFactors predicting better outcome in HRQL in one or several SF-36 subscales were being younger or middle-aged, feeling painless, having good sleep structure, feeling rested after sleep, performing low effort of exercise more than twice per week, having strong sense of coherence (SOC), emotional support and practical assistance, higher educational level and work capacity. The most important factors were having strong SOC, feeling rested after sleep, having work capacity, being younger or middle-aged, and having good sleep structure.ConclusionsThis study identified several factors that promoted a good outcome in HRQL to people with rheumatic diseases. These health factors could be important to address in clinical work with rheumatic diseases in order to optimise treatment strategies.

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“…The cultural understandings and behaviours portrayed in the findings of Kralik (2002), Kralik et al (2005) and Richardson (2005) resemble the cultural ideologies and behaviours characterising salience of the confined and submitter identities, as well as the fortified and camouflager identity in this study. The lack of confidence and self-esteem associated with the confined and submitter identities led women to shape their behaviours in line with other"s expectations.…”

Section: Culture Gender and Chronic Illnessmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…It was found that women internalised cultural constructions of gender; they were expected to place the needs of others before their own, and to maintain the cleanliness and tidiness of their households. Women made every effort to meet these expectations to avoid being undervalued, which caused conflict, led women to question their self-worth, and was associated with periods where women perceived a lack of control over their lives, their bodies and their pain, and where they experienced overwhelming fatigue (Kralik, 2002;Kralik et al, 2005). In Richardson"s (2005) study, women presented themselves as "good housewives" despite their pain, in order to maintain a positive identity by continuing to undertake traditional female tasks.…”

Section: Culture Gender and Chronic Illnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chronic low back pain and the construction of illness identities in women from Kuwait

Abdal¹

2016

Manual Therapy

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Chronic low back pain (CLBP) has been identified as a prominent health problem and a major cause of disability. Recent research has focussed on providing a better understanding of subjective experiences of people with CLBP; however, emphasis continues to be geared towards the physical restrictions associated with CLBP. There is a scarcity of literature that considers the relation between self and identity, and people"s experiences with CLBP. Moreover, studies have concentrated on the experiences of people in Western contexts; to date, no studies have been carried out in Middle Eastern sociocultural contexts including Kuwait. Finally, there is a deficiency of studies that focus on the particularity of the experiences of women with CLBP and the impact on identity. This is the first study that investigates how women with CLBP construct illness identities in Kuwait.This study adopted a constructivist grounded theory methodology using dimensional analysis. In line with the grounded theory (GT) approach, data collection and analysis took place concurrently. A longitudinal study design was adopted. Semi-structured interviews were used to investigate women"s perspectives on their experiences with CLBP in relation to their socio-political and cultural context. Eleven women were recruited from three musculoskeletal outpatient clinics in Kuwait. Initially, five women were purposively sampled. A follow up interview was conducted with four of those women one year after the initial interview to investigate any changes in their experiences. Subsequently, six women were theoretically sampled with the aim of comparing the influence of age, educational level, marital status, socioeconomic status and time on women"s illness experiences.The findings of this study offer the first explanatory theory of the construction of illness identities of women with CLBP in Kuwait. Women"s identities can be seen as part of a continuum from oppressed at one end to liberated at the other. Salience of oppressed identities was associated with periods of exacerbation of CLBP and passive coping behaviours. Appearance of liberated identities was accompanied with episodes of remission of CLBP and active coping approaches. Changes in women"s social circumstances, thoughts and feelings over time were related to changes in the identities they portrayed, and changes in their manifestation of CLBP and illness experiences. The substantive theory developed through this study has implications for clinical practice, education and research, and may inform physiotherapy professional development activities in Kuwait.

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Women's experiences of fatigue in chronic illness

Cited by 48 publications

References 29 publications

Understanding the meaning of fatigue at the end of life: An ethnoscience approach

Understanding the meaning of fatigue at the end of life: An ethnoscience approach

Factors promoting health-related quality of life in people with rheumatic diseases: a 12 month longitudinal study

Chronic low back pain and the construction of illness identities in women from Kuwait

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