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- Title
Patient's experiences of lupus-related foot problems: a qualitative investigation.
- Authors
Williams, A. E.; Blake, A.; Cherry, L.; Alcacer-Pitarch, B.; Edwards, C. J.; Hopkinson, N.; Vital, E. M. J.; Teh, L. S.
- Abstract
Background: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) can present with a variety of symptoms. Previous research has shown there is a high prevalence of lower limb and foot problems in patients with SLE associated with the musculoskeletal, vascular and neurological changes. Furthermore, there is a high prevalence of infections affecting the feet and a range of common skin and nail problems. However, it is not known how these foot problems impact upon people's lives. Therefore, we aimed to explore this using a qualitative approach. Method: Following ethical approval, 12 participants were recruited who had a diagnosis of SLE, current and/or past experience of foot problems and were over 18 years in age. Following consent, interviews were carried out with an interpretivist phenomenological approach to both data collection and analysis. Results: Seven themes provide insight into: foot problems and symptoms; the impact of these foot problems and symptoms on activities; disclosure and diagnosis of foot problems; treatment of foot problems and symptoms; perceived barriers to professional footcare; unanswered questions about feet and footcare and identification of the need for professional footcare and footcare advice. Conclusion: These participants tend to "selftreat" rather than disclose that they may need professional footcare. A lack of focus upon foot health within a medical consultation is attributed to the participant's belief that it is not within the doctor's role, even though it is noted to contribute to reduced daily activity. There is a need for feet to be included as a part of patient monitoring and for foot health management to be made accessible for people with SLE.
- Subjects
SYSTEMIC lupus erythematosus; FOOT diseases; PODIATRY; SKIN diseases; NAIL diseases; PATIENTS
- Publication
Lupus, 2017, Vol 26, Issue 11, p1174
- ISSN
0961-2033
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1177/0961203317696590