Sara Shahba
Guilan University of Medical Science, Iran
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Gen Med
Aim: Various studies suggests that Ankylosing Spondylitis as a chronic condition along with multidimensional disabilities can have impacts on some aspects of patients��? life. Despite the conducted quantitative surveys, only few qualitative studies have thus far been conducted on this issue. The present paper aims at gaining insight into the life experience of individuals with AS. Method: A qualitative content analysis was conducted through semi-structured interviews with 28 individuals (3 females and 25 males with an average age of 38.5) and diagnosed with AS, to gain insight into their experiences. The interviews were transcribed as sub-themes and then were analyzed thematically. Result: Three key themes were identified by the analysis: ��?Always with pain��? depicting an inevitable outcome of the condition as pain, a correlation between pain and tension and ups and downs of pain associated with the hope for a relieving solution; ��?the perceived limitation��? was identified as the second theme describing movement restrictions, fear of society and the obstacles and unstable job; ��?fearing the unknown future��? which many patients described as the uncertain view of future, family��?s concerns and the responsibility of patients towards their family. Conclusion: Our research in line with other qualitative studies showed that this condition places a heavy and intolerable burden on patients and their family. It seems that the experiences of people living with AS can be useful and supporting in order to ease the challenges imposed by this condition.
