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. 2022 Jan;11(1):269-276.
doi: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_481_21. Epub 2022 Jan 31.

Experience of discomfort and its self-management strategies in ICU patients

Pouran Tavakoli  1 , Mohammad Ali Cheraghi  2 , Simin Jahani  3 , Marziyeh Asadizaker  3
Affiliations

Experience of discomfort and its self-management strategies in ICU patients

Pouran Tavakoli et al. J Family Med Prim Care. 2022 Jan.

Abstract

Introduction: Discomfort in patients admitted to the ICU occurs due to various reasons and leads to a stressful situation in these patients. Discomfort significantly affects the ability to cope psychologically, the process, and results of treatment. The aim of this study was to investigate the experiences of discomfort and its self-management strategies in patients admitted to the ICU.

Methods: This qualitative study was conducted in the period of September 2019 to December 2020 through in-depth interviews with 13 patients admitted to the ICU who were selected by purposive sampling. Interviews continued until data saturation. All interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using MAXQDA18 software by the conventional Lundman and Graneheim content analysis method.

Results: The two main themes including "hospitalization with anxiety" and "coping with the horror of ICU" emerged from the uncomfortable experiences of patients admitted to the intensive care unit. "Hospitalization with anxiety" included five subthemes: "fear of disability and possible death," "separation from family," "understanding ambiguity and contradiction in treatment," "environmental disruptors," and "painful and unfamiliar devices and treatments." "Coping with the horror of ICU" included three subthemes: "recourse to spirituality," "benefiting from psychosocial coping," and "information search."

Keywords: Discomfort; intensive care unit; self-management.

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Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest.

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