Qualitative study identifies life shifts and stress coping strategies in people with multiple sclerosis

Autor: Heidemarie Lex, Pollie Price, Lauren Clark
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: Scientific Reports, Vol 12, Iss 1, Pp 1-8 (2022)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2045-2322
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-10267-z
Popis: Abstract Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an auto-immune disease in which the body’s immune system attacks the central nervous system. The demyelination of the nerve fibers can lead to physical, emotional, and cognitive impairments. We wanted to learn about challenges of living with the illness and how people deal with stress. 128 individuals with MS from Austria and the US participated in the qualitative interviews. We interviewed participants and coded their answers using inductive grounded theory. We asked three open-ended questions to inquire about life since being diagnosed with MS as well as about dealing with stress. Life shifts since diagnosis involved ‘experiencing limitations’ and could be categorized in ‘emotional changes’, ‘changes with work’, ‘changes in social interaction’, ‘physical changes’, ‘changes in the medical context’. For dealing with stress active (strategies and activities) and passive coping strategies (avoid/ignore) were employed. General stress reactions were expressed in areas of emotional, physical and /or lifestyle. We recommend developing interventions in three core areas for the MS population: (1) dealing with life changes and significant experiences with MS, (2) focusing on the areas where life shifts took place, (3) focusing on active coping with stress and discussing consequences of passive coping strategies.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals
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