Abstract

Background: Despite the important role of feelings in health care seeking behavior (HCSB), this subject has not yet been adequately investigated. HCSB-related feelings begin with the onset of disease symptoms and persist in different forms after treatment. The aim of current study was to explore the feelings that women of reproductive age experience when they seek health care.Methods: In this deductive, qualitative content analysis, participants were selected by purposeful sampling. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 17 women of reproductive age and 5 health care staffs in Qom, Iran were carried out until data saturation was achieved. Qualitative data were concurrently analyzed by deductive content analysis, using the Health Promotion Model (HPM). The MAXQDA10 software was used to manage qualitative data analysis.Results: Three main categories were drawn from data to explain the HCSB-related feelings of participants consisting of (1) feeling of inner satisfaction with the treatment with 2 subcategories including "peace of mind" and "feeling alive", (2) multiple roles of fear with 5 subcategories including "fear about the consequences of delay", "fear of having hidden diseases", "fear of unknown experiences", "fear of hearing bad news" and "fear of medical errors" and (3)uncomfortable feelings with 3 subcategories including "feeling uneasy when attending health facility", "feeling embarrassed" and "feeling worthless due to dealing the doctor".Conclusion: This study revealed that the inner feelings of women varied widely, ranging from positive or motivating feelings to negative or inhibitory ones, given their experiences with the formal health care system and the current situation of medical and health services. Highlighting patients’ perceived inner satisfaction and reducing fear and uncomfortable feelings by adopting culture-based practical strategies can enhance women’s HCSB.

Highlights

  • There are various definitions for health care seeking behavior (HCSB), but 3 phases are shared by all these definitions: Identifying symptoms; perceiving the nature of illness and seeking care in home at first and if needed, seeking health care services, medication outside the home and compliance.[1]

  • The present study investigated the HCSB-related feelings that the Iranian women of reproductive age experience

  • Feeling of inner satisfaction with the treatment most participants reported that they experienced negative feelings as they were seeking medical care, a number of participants reported experiencing positive feelings which arose from their feeling of inner satisfaction with the treatment

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Summary

Introduction

There are various definitions for health care seeking behavior (HCSB), but 3 phases are shared by all these definitions: Identifying symptoms; perceiving the nature of illness and seeking care in home at first and if needed, seeking health care services, medication outside the home and compliance.[1]. This means that angry patients are more likely to trust health professionals and accept their therapeutic recommendations.[13] The feelings that patient’s experiences in dealing with health care providers can affect their selection of treatments. The patient may experience embarrassment, shame or guilt due to the behaviors of health professionals or a specific type of treatment at any step of medical care The power of these feelings may lead to discontinuation of formal treatment.[14,15]. Highlighting patients’ perceived inner satisfaction and reducing fear and uncomfortable feelings by adopting culture-based practical strategies can enhance women’s HCSB

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