Experiences in elderly people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in relation to the use of long-term home oxygen therapy: a qualitative study about feelings attributed to therapy.

BACKGROUND: Elderly people are more likely to suffer severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and require long-term home oxygen therapy (LTOT) as part of their treatment. LTOT has advantages such as improvement in symptoms, but there are also disadvantages such as physical barriers, psychosocial barriers and emotional challenges. The aim of this study is to understand the experiences of elderly people with COPD using LTOT with respect to their feelings attributed to therapy. METHODS: Qualitative study. Seven semidirected interviews were conducted with patients with a confirmed COPD diagnosis who used LTOT and were treated at an outpatient service. The content analysis technique was applied with the support of WebQDA software 2.0. RESULTS: Three categories emerged that were associated with the use of LTOT: (1) poor self-image; (2) feelings of sadness and (3) the impact of LTOT on others such as family and friends. CONCLUSIONS: LTOT in elderly people with COPD was associated with a poor self-image, feelings of sadness and impacted on others apart from the patient. When LTOT is prescribed, healthcare practitioners should proactively address these concerns to minimise the negative biopsychosocial experiences caused by LTOT.

Costs and benefits of secrecy: the dilemma experienced by adolescents seropositive for HIV.

This study explored the experiences of the first generation of adolescents who acquired HIV through vertical transmission when disclosing their diagnosis to friends and romantic partners. The study sample was selected by convenience, with 20 patients (13-20 years old) participating in a qualitative investigation using individual interviews (language: Portuguese; duration: 45 minutes). The participants were followed in specialized clinics for the treatment of pediatric AIDS in São Paulo, Brazil. The results suggest that families who live with HIV tend to keep it a secret, and such behavior is learned and accepted unquestioningly as natural. Respect for privacy and the fear of rejection, coupled with the belief that information about their disease will be spread, are the main beliefs with which participants justify their secrecy. In terms of romantic relationships, adolescents were aware that their HIV status should at some point be shared with current or future sexual partners. However, the decision to reveal an HIV diagnosis in romantic relationships is permeated by anxieties, uncertainties about the right time, and fear of abandonment. In any case, telling the truth requires trust, guarantees of the other's love, and, in some cases, probing romantic partners beforehand to learn their perceptions about the disease. Participants who had experiences disclosing their HIV status shared positive and negative results, including emotional support, acceptance, and understanding, along with ostracism, discrimination, and abandonment by family members. The findings of this paper reinforce the challenges of revealing an HIV diagnosis to third parties. It requires understanding the meaning and importance of the secret for each patient, along with the conflict between the right to confidentiality and the responsibility of treating others exposed to the disease. All these aspects should be discussed extensively with this population and incorporated into clinical practice.

The pain and pleasure of being what one is: viewpoints of health professionals and patients about being overweight/obese.

The objective of this article is to discuss the meanings that health professionals and patients in treatment attribute to obesity. The research consisted of a qualitative survey in health, based on in-depth interviews with patients and professionals at an out-patient clinic at the University Hospital in Barcelona, Spain. Here, we discuss the concept of obesity, the meanings of diagnoses, the singularities involved in managing treatment, and the process of becoming ill, all in the light of the anthropology of health that has a sociocultural orientation. Obesity is usually seen by the professionals as a risk-factor disease. For patients, the incorporation of this rationality is procedural and is mixed in with other meanings attributed to being overweight/obese that have been gradually developed throughout life. A patient's autonomy in choosing to be fat, or obese, and to adhere to treatment, is defined as a process that requires support in order to come to joint proposals in caring for these problems.

Life experiences of patients who have completed tuberculosis treatment: a qualitative investigation in southeast Brazil.

BACKGROUND: Despite being curable, tuberculosis is still a stigmatized disease. Not only is TB patients' suffering due to its clinical manifestations, but also because of society's prejudice, embarrassing situations, and even self-discrimination. This study aims to investigate psychosocial experiences of patients who have completed tuberculosis treatment in São Carlos a municipality in the interior of São Paulo State, Brazil. METHODS: This study, of a clinical-qualitative nature, sought to understand the meanings provided by the participants themselves. Fifteen individuals, who had successfully completed tuberculosis treatment, participated in this research. The sample size was established using the information saturation criterion. Data were collected by means of interviews with in-depth open-ended questions. Data were treated by categorizing and analyzing content according to themes. RESULTS: Regardless of all progress, this study found that TB still causes patients to suffer from fear of transmission, social prejudice, and death. Despite the fact that the emotional support provided by families and healthcare professionals is considered essential to treatment adherence and completion, participants in this study reveal that friends and colleagues have distanced themselves from them for fear of contagion and/or prejudice. Ignorance about the disease and its transmission modes can be found in the interviewees' statements, which seems to indicate that they have become vectors of transmission of stigma themselves. Patients' medical leave from work during treatment may be due to both their health conditions and their attempt to avoid social/emotional embarrassment. There are accounts that TB has caused psychosocial damage to patients' lives and that they feel more fatigue and lassitude and have begun to pay more attention to their own health. CONCLUSIONS: Healthcare workers should be aware of the ways TB treatment affect patients' psychosocial life and develop strategies to mitigate these effects and provide opportunities for them to share their anxiety, suffering, and bio-psychosocial changes. In addition, healthcare professionals should seek to educate and, as a result, empower TB patients and their families with regard to this disease so as to break the existing vicious cycle of misinformation and prejudice.

Perceptions of the oral health of their patients reported by Brazilian medical residents in psychiatry.

Persons with severe mental disorders have higher chances of presenting oral health problems than persons in the general population. Mental disorders are considered public-health problems worldwide. Interpreting statements on oral health made by medical students receiving instruction in psychiatry is essential to provide elements for reflection on their difficulties, barriers or limited knowledge in managing their patients' oral health. Based on the presupposition that doctors provide their patients with no instruction or support concerning oral complaints, because these do not symbolize the same challenges as those emerging from severe mental disorders. The aim of this study was to interpret symbolic meanings of statements expressed by medical residents in psychiatry at a specialized university outpatient clinic, about their patients' oral health. Qualitative research using the Qualitative-Clinical method was conducted, adopting the theoretical reference of medical psychology. Data were analyzed by the Clinical-Qualitative Content method and the Seven-Step technique. Based on 06 interviews analyzed, the following categories emerged: "What do I do? Psychiatrists' dilemmas about not understanding their role in patients' oral health; and "Dentists do not participate in Balint' so-called "collusion in anonymity". It was concluded that among others, the paradigm consisted of a sociological composition, therefore it was stronger than personal decisions that might eventually oppose the barriers to interdisciplinary work posed by the institutional model, which were intertwined with paradigmatic barriers. Thus, specialist training should include a dental perspective, so that oral examinations would always be included in the physical examinations, from an interdisciplinary perspective of the integrity of health-care.

Pregnancy after bariatric surgery: a current view of maternal, obstetrical and perinatal challenges.

UNLABELLED: With the increase in the number of bariatric surgeries being performed in women of childbearing age, physicians must have concerns regarding the safety of pregnancy after bariatric surgery. The aim of this review is to summarize the literature reporting on maternal, obstetrical and perinatal implications of pregnancy following BS. METHODS: English, Spanish and Portuguese-language articles were identified in a PUBMED search from 2005 to February 2011 using the keywords for pregnancy and bariatric surgery or gastric bypass or gastric banding. RESULTS: The studies show improved fertility and a reduced risk of gestational diabetes, pregnancy-induced hypertension and pre-eclampsia, macrosomia in pregnant women after bariatric surgery. The incidence of intrauterine growth restriction and small for gestational age are increased. No conclusions can be drawn concerning the risk for cesarean delivery and the best surgery-to-conception interval. Deficiencies in iron, vitamin A, vitamin B12, vitamin K, folate and calcium can result in maternal and fetal complications. CONCLUSIONS: Pregnancy outcome of women who delivered after BS, as compared to obese populations, is better and safer and comparable to the general population. Close supervision before, during and after pregnancy following bariatric surgery and nutrient supplementation adapted to the patient's individual requirements can prevent nutrition-related complications and improve maternal and fetal health.

Life experiences of Brazilian men with urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction following radical prostatectomy.

PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to explore the psychosocial meaning and repercussions on lifestyle associated with erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence (UI) in men following radical prostatectomy. SUBJECTS AND SETTING: Ten men from Southeastern Brazil who underwent radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer were interviewed. All participants underwent treatment at a urology clinic during the period of September 2007 to February 2009. METHODS: A clinical-qualitative study was conducted, using semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions. All interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Each man was interviewed once. The average length of the interviews was 37 minutes (range: 16 to 81 minutes). Data from the interviews were subjected to content thematic analysis and development of categories based on psychodynamic references. RESULTS: Three themes were identified: (1) sexuality called into question; (2) a body without governance; and (3) experiencing loss. These men reported difficulties in dealing both with the physical and emotional impotence resulting from the treatment. Urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction affected their body by accentuating conflicts related to masculinity, triggering subjective feelings of powerlessness, and psychological distress. CONCLUSION: Study respondents assigned multiple psychological meanings to issues related to feelings of powerlessness in general, leading to a narcissistic wound. The men experienced UI as a bodily deficiency, and erectile dysfunction was experienced as a feeling of being devitalized. These results suggest that UI from prostate cancer treatment affects sexuality and self-esteem.

The meanings of silence in Brazilian women with urinary incontinence.

PURPOSE: We explored the meanings of silence for Brazilian women with urinary incontinence (UI). SUBJECTS AND SETTING: The sample consisted of 8 women, aged 30 to 45 years. Respondents worked as housekeepers or cleaning staff and were from lower social, economic, and educational strata. Their years of formal education varied from 0 to 8 years and they earned up to 4.5 times the Brazilian minimum wage, which is equivalent to US$900. METHODS: A qualitative method using semistructured interviews was employed to gather data. Individual semistructured interviews were recorded and subsequently transcribed, including researchers' observations of subjects' nonverbal behaviors. The interviews began with the question: "Can you tell me about your experience with urinary incontinence?" Data were analyzed using a content analysis technique. RESULTS: Respondents avoided discussing UI and initially resisted labeling themselves as incontinent, but their nonverbal behaviors provided clues to the psychosocial distress caused by urinary leakage. Results suggest that respondents' underprivileged social, economic, and cultural situation may aggravate their limitations when expressing their feelings. We found that the women employed silence as a means to contain the psychosocial distress created by their UI, and that the silence itself should be interpreted as an expression of distress associated with UI. CONCLUSION: The silence of Brazilian women with UI is an essential element of communication about incontinence. We believe that the silence used by these women expresses the pain and anxiety they experienced, and it acts as an adaptive psychosocial mechanism.

Seven steps for qualitative treatment in health research: the Clinical-Qualitative Content Analysis.

Qualitative Health research procedures that are not always applied, mainly in the analysis phase. Our objective is to present a systematized technique of step-by-step procedures for qualitative content analysis in the health field: Clinical-Qualitative Content Analysis. Our proposal consider that the qualitative research applied to the field of health, can acquire a perspective analogous to clinical practice and aims to interpret meanings expressed in reports through individual interviews or statements. This analysis takes part of the Clinical-Qualitative Method. The literature review was realized through: a book chapter, eight original articles and three methodological articles. The Clinical-qualitative Content Analysis technique comprises seven steps: 1) Editing material for analysis; 2) Floating reading; 3) Construction of the units of analysis; 4) Construction of codes of meaning; 5) General refining of the codes and the Construction of categories; 6) Discussion; 7) Validity. The clinical-qualitative analysis presupposes and involves a critical reflection on the processes carried out at each step. This reflection is an extremely rich process, if carried out collectively and in dialogue with other researchers with some proficiency in qualitative methods.

The structure of qualitative studies: a bibliometric pattern of biomedical literature.

The lack of knowledge in the biomedical literature regarding the validity of qualitative studies might be related to the lower number of qualitative studies that have been published. The criticisms range from a lack of theoretical depth to the superficial discussions of empirical findings. The aim of this study was to explore the bibliometric entities and the trends in the structure of qualitative research in the biomedical literature. A bibliometric analysis and mapping of the biomedical literature were used. The number of studies selected was 1,725. The heath themes with the most publications included Health Management (12%) and Women's Health (9.8%), while the authors of the studies had academic affiliation in 76 different countries. The sample sizes were between 11 and 20 participants (27.13%) and the Grounded Theory framework (9.04%) stood out. The improved structuring of a qualitative research extends the effective communication between health providers and researchers, and support in the management of clinical situations.

[Hemodialysis treatment as perceived by the renal patient: clinical qualitative study]. / Tratamento hemodialítico sob a ótica do doente renal: estudo clínico qualitativo.

The objective of this paper was to analyze the meaning attributed by renal patients to the hemodialysis treatment received. Using the clinical-qualitative method interviews were conducted, following a semi-structured questionnaire with seven patients from a hemodialysis unit, selected through intentional sampling. The data were examined by thematic content analysis. Survival emerged as the most significant objective of the treatment. The fact that the treatment was mandatory placed the patient in a situation of implicit transference of responsibilities, when making decisions about the adopted therapeutic, to the team of health professionals, generating compliance or conformity regarding his/her own participation in this process. The patients attributed to culture lack of knowledge about the treatment.

Self-care and Health Care in Postpartum Women with Obesity: A Qualitative Study.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the experiences of women with obesity regarding self-care and the care provided by their families and health team after childbirth. METHODS: A clinical qualitative study performed at the Postnatal Outpatient Clinic of Hospital da Mulher, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brazil. The sample was selected using the saturation criteria, with 16 women with obesity up to 6 months after childbirth. RESULTS: The analysis comprised three categories: 1) postnatal self-care; 2) family support for woman after childbirth; and 3) postnatal health care service for women with obesity. CONCLUSION: Women with obesity need support from the health team and from their families after childbirth, when they are overwhelmed by the exhausting care for the newborn. The present study reveals how important it is for health care professionals to broaden their perception and care provided after childbirth for women with obesity so they may experience an improvement in their quality of health and of life.

OBJETIVO: Explorar as vivências de mulheres com obesidade sobre o autocuidado e os cuidados recebidos da família e da equipe de saúde após o parto. MéTODOS: Estudo clínico-qualitativo realizado no Ambulatório de Revisão Puerperal do Hospital da Mulher da Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brasil. A amostra foi selecionada de acordo com os critérios de saturação, com 16 mulheres com obesidade até 6 meses após o parto. RESULTADOS: A análise de conteúdo compreendeu três categorias: 1) autocuidado pós-natal; 2) apoio familiar para a mulher após o parto; e 3) atenção do serviço de saúde à mulher com obesidade no pós-parto. CONCLUSãO: As mulheres com obesidade necessitam de acolhimento e do apoio da equipe de saúde e de suas famílias após o parto, quando são absorvidas pelo cuidado exaustivo do recém-nascido. Este estudo revela o quão importante é para os profissionais de saúde ampliar sua percepção e cuidado após o parto às mulheres com obesidade para que estas possam melhorar sua qualidade de saúde e de vida.

Content analysis in studies using the clinical-qualitative method: application and perspectives.

Content analysis comprises a set of techniques for organizing communication/information - a procedure used with qualitative data to make themes/topics and concepts/knowledge emerge. Communication content, considering human written or spoken discourse, is complex and presents valuable polysemous characteristic. With the dissemination of the clinical-qualitative method, the use of content analysis, considered an important methodological tool, raises theoretical-practical issues that need to be taken into consideration for its academically precise use. Thus, this article aimed to enumerate specific elements of the content analysis technique and discuss its suitability for the clinical-qualitative method that combines generic qualitative methods from Human and Cultural Sciences with the area of Health Sciences. Concepts were selected due to their pertinence, use and eventual adaptation to the method focused on.

How Brazilian dentists work within a new community care context? A qualitative study.

The aim of this study was to analyze the value and meanings that dental surgeons attribute to the Primary Health Care setting, where health promotion is encouraged over a mechanistic performance of procedures. A qualitative study, involving ten Brazilian dental surgeons working in Primary Care in 2016, was designed. In-depth semi-structured interviews were performed, with all interviews recorded, transcribed and subsequently submitted to Qualitative Content Analysis. Despite the Healthcare Promotion model proposed by the Brazilian oral health policy, dental surgeons demonstrated preferences for private and traditional dental practices. These characteristics are counterproductive in public oral health services, which aim to achieve collective health benefits. Traditional practice is based upon a specific and restricted focus, as opposed to overall patient care, hence maintaining the original professional identity, ruled by manual procedures, while demonstrating scientifically fragile understanding of disease processes. Despite the implementation of public service models that aim at change, counterproductive characteristics associated with the deeply rooted traditional management strategies were evidenced.

[Saturation sampling in qualitative health research: theoretical contributions]. / Amostragem por saturação em pesquisas qualitativas em saúde: contribuições teóricas.

The transparency and clarity of research reports, emphasizing the data collection stage, are considered important parameters for evaluating the scientific rigor of qualitative studies. The current paper aims to analyze the use of saturation sampling as a methodological concept, frequently employed in descriptions of qualitative studies in various areas of knowledge, particularly in the field of health care. We discuss and confront the following topics: definition of sampling closure by theoretical saturation; difficulties in the acceptance and operationalization of intentional samples (with examples), adequate size of the intentional sample, the significance of valuing what is repeated or the differences contained in the sample reports, inadequate uses of expressions containing the term saturation, and finally possible metaphors for understanding the concept.

Psychocultural meanings of urinary incontinence in women: a review.

The purpose of the present study was to identify and analyze studies in health literature about the psychocultural meanings reported by women who experience urinary incontinence (UI). A bibliographical search was executed in the following databases: Lilacs, Medline, Pubmed and Medscape. The present review showed that studies note several meanings. The articles were grouped in three categories defined as significant: according to age experiences, cultural-religious experiences and experiences in self-care. The studies revealed that the degree of anguish and the range of the difficulties experienced are related both with age, ethnic group or religion and with the perception each individual has of her incontinence, which will lead to different levels of emotional disorders and to seeking (or not seeking) treatment. Besides, barriers regarding self-care are perceived. It is concluded that the UI may cause suffering and incontinent women have difficulties to deal with this problem.

The free spirit: spiritualism meanings by a Nursing team on psychiatry.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the meanings attributed by nursing professionals in psychiatry to spirituality and its relationship with care. METHOD: Clinical-qualitative, with appreciation of symbolic meanings. We interviewed 18 individuals for a semi-structured script of open questions and the data were analyzed in the light of psychoanalytic hermeneutics. The discussion was undertaken with the overlap of understanding of the sacred symbol, psychological and the meaning of life. RESULTS: Different spiritualities are interposed by personal restlessness and the experience of transience. Spirituality aids in social functions, personal balance and commitment to endure the anguish of transience. Among professionals, it has been shown as an ethical-combative attitude to evil forms, but there is a restriction in dealing with patients' spirituality. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS: The meanings pointed to the limits of human reason, resembling caregivers and patients in subjective conditions by which they avoid spirituality in psychiatry. It is suggested that spiritual attention be given to professionals.

Eating Behaviors in Postpartum: A Qualitative Study of Women with Obesity.

In postpartum, women experience major changes in their lives; they are forced to deal with new internal and external demands for attention and care for themselves and the baby. Postpartum feeding also suffers changes in this stage of life, because women find more barriers to healthy eating, which can put them at greater risk of overweight or obesity. This is a qualitative study, through in-depth semi-directed interviews in an intentional sample with postpartum women with obesity, closed by saturation and qualitative content analysis. Sixteen women were included. Three categories emerged from this analysis: (1) from pregnancy to postpartum: changes in body and eating behavior; (2) eating to fill the void of helplessness felt during the postpartum period; and (3) breastfeeding and baby feeding. Women with obesity eat to relieve unpleasant feelings during the postnatal period. The postpartum period is an opportune moment to introduce long-term changes in the eating behaviors and mental wellbeing of these women. Healthcare teams need to restructure to provide more focused follow-up care for women with obesity during the postnatal period in terms of their physical and emotional health.

Semblance of a physician: medical students' experiences during Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus clinic simulation / Com o semblante de médico: experiências de estudantes de medicina durante a simulação clínica em Diabetes tipo 2 / Con el semblante de médico: experiencias de estudiantes de medicina durante la simulación clínica en Diabetes tipo 2

This qualitative research aimed to understand the experiences of a fourth-year medical class during two clinical simulation scenarios of type 2 diabetes management in Primary Care. Ten simulated students were interviewed. The results describe the symbolic conception of diabetes and its treatment as anguish, damage, condemnation and an unpleasant sentence that affects the appropriation and performance of the medical role by students. Considering Medical Psychology, we suggest that such subjective factors should be addressed in teaching-learning in addition to commonly cognitive aspects mentioned in the medical education literature in order for students to develop the work profile to cope with diabetes in Primary Care. Clinical simulation facilitates the subjective approach through its group support component to promote reflection, insights and self-awareness.(AU)

Esta pesquisa qualitativa objetivou compreender as experiências de estudantes de um quarto ano médico durante dois cenários de simulação clínica do manejo do diabetes tipo 2 na Atenção Primária. Dez estudantes simulados foram entrevistados. Os resultados descrevem a concepção simbólica do diabetes e seu tratamento como angústia, dano, condenação e uma sentença desagradável que afeta a apropriação e o desempenho do papel médico pelos estudantes. Considerando a Psicologia Médica, sugerimos que os fatores subjetivos apontados devem ser abordados no ensino-aprendizado além de aspectos cognitivos mais comuns na literatura de educação médica para que os estudantes desenvolvam o perfil de trabalho ao enfrentamento do diabetes na Atenção Primária. A simulação clínica permite esta abordagem subjetiva por seu componente de suporte grupal promovendo reflexão, insights e autoconsciência.(AU)

Esta encuesta cualitativa tuvo el objetivo de comprender las experiencias de estudiantes del cuarto año de medicina durante dos escenarios de simulación clínica del manejo de la diabetes tipo 2 en la Atención Primaria. Fueron entrevistados 10 estudiantes simulados. Los resultados describen la concepción simbólica de la diabetes y su tratamiento, tales como angustia, daño, condenación y una sentencia desagradable que afecta la apropiación y el desempeño del papel médico por parte de los estudiantes. Considerando la Psicología Médica, sugerimos que los factores subjetivos señalados deben abordarse en la enseñanza-aprendizaje, más allá de aspectos cognitivos más comunes en la literatura de educación médica para que los estudiantes desarrollen el perfil de trabajo para el enfrentamiento de la diabetes en la Atención Primaria. La simulación clínica permite este abordaje subjetivo por su componente de soporte grupal promoviendo reflexión, insights y autoconciencia.(AU)

Spirituality review on mental health and psychiatric nursing.

OBJECTIVE: Gather the concepts, theories and interventions about spirituality, its nature and functions in mental health and psychiatric nursing. METHOD: A literature review proceeded on February 2016. It has integrated 214 studies published until December 2015 by crossing Spirituality and Psychiatric Nursing mesh terms in databases. RESULTS: Conceptualization about spirituality and religion, their complexity in nursing research, education, and clinical approach; their functions to human being correlated to the purpose of life, transcendental connections, and support in mental health; the professional boundaries in address to spirituality in mental health scenery, and a descriptive literature recommendations and a instruments catalog. CONCLUSIONS: Spirituality in nursing mental health and psychiatry remains a theoretical problem, and has a clinical mischaracterized approach; recently publications try to promote a human and holistic trend in the practice, as a challenge to lead the current circumstances to valid nursing bases.