Life with hypertension: A phenomenological study

BACKGROUND: Hypertension is a chronic health disorder which affects many aspects of daily life. A bio-psychosocial approach to patients and their problems is needed for hypertension management. Nurses encounter various valuable situations during their activities. Since patients beliefs about health and disease will guide self management measures, a holistic understanding of this subject is necessary. The aim of this study was to identify and describe the experiences of patients with hypertension in a qualitative study. METHODS: In the current study a descriptive phenomenological framework was used to guide the project of inquiry. The population studied consisted of hypertensive patients referring to Alzahra Hospital, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran. The sampling method was purposive sampling and continued until data saturation. The data collected was by in-depth interviews and data analysis was done by Colaizzi’s seven stages method. RESULTS: Three themes were identified including clinical experiences about the disease, patients’ social experiences, and patients’ psychological experiences. These 3 items, respectively, belong to participants’ perception about diseases etiology, perception about treatment, and their feeling about their situation. CONCLUSION: Based on the finding, patients’ beliefs about their disease and health situation can affect health behaviors and self-management. Hypertensive patients had mostly experienced chronic situations and treatment process, and their problems such as diet and life style. Life style is an important criterion for our physical health and it should be changed so that hypertensive patients feel relatively healthy, and peaceful. The patients indicated beliefs about their disease and experienced its psychological signs.