Das Leben mit Schmerzen meistern – ältere Frauen als Expertinnen im Umgang mit chronischen Schmerzen des Bewegungsapparates

Abstract

Chronic musculoskeletal pain in the elderly is very common. The aim of this qualitative study was to gain insight in elderly people's pain medication beliefs. Problem-focused interviews with eight women were conducted. The results show them to be experts in managing pain, which task turns out to be too complex to be described in terms of pain medication beliefs. Using the method of qualitative content analyses five main categories including subcategories were inductively generated and presented in a structured way. The category "to be carried by one's life and illness trajectory" evolved as a basic category in the pain management. It includes the subcategories "to gain experiences from one's life and illness", "to have knowledge of the causes of pain and of their treatment", "to learn how to manage pain in everyday life" as well as "to rely on spiritual well-being". Most important for the women is their every day reality "to live with pain and its physical, psychological, practical and social effects". This leads to "weigh, to combine and to evaluate treatments for pain relief" which includes the subcategories "to be disciplined in carrying out non-pharmacological measures for pain relief", "to use pain medication sparingly but purposefully" and "to cooperate as a partner with health professionals". Some of the participants are challenged by "reaching their limits", which means "to reach the limits of endurable pain", "to experience the limits of failed treatment effects" as well as "to reach the limits of endurable treatment side effects". "To sustain one's quality of life in spite of pain" seems to be the aim of the elderly women's endeavour. The results of this study demand collaborative care in a partnership with elderly people with pain acknowledging their expertise. The results also ask for transdisciplinary efforts to support elderly persons with pain and for the development as well as the evaluation of self-management education programs.