ABSTRACT Introduction: Endometriosis is a chronic disease affecting about 10% of fertile women. Endometriosis is an underdiagnosed disease which means many of the women suffering from symptoms do not get the treatment and help they need. It is common that women who experience symptoms of endometriosis have to wait a long time before they get a diagnosis. This implies deficiencies in the encounters between the healthcare professionals and the patients. It is essential that these women get efficient treatment as soon as possible to prevent long term pain and infertility. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the experiences women with diagnosed endometriosis have from health care encounters. Method: Literature study of qualitative original articles, published between 2005 and 2021. Results: Nine studies were chosen after examination. Six themes emerged from the collected data as important in the patients experience of health care. Normalization of symptoms, information, communication, knowledge of health care professionals, patient participation in treatment and delay in diagnosis were the categories identified from the material. The negative experiences were characterized with a lack of knowledge, lack of information and communication as well as normalization of symptoms, a lack of patient participation and delay in diagnosis. Positive experiences included feeling seen, being informed about different treatment options, socially competent personnel and a sense of being in control. Conclusion: The results show a number of deficiencies in the health care encounters that patients with endometriosis experience. The experiences describe how a negative health care encounter is, believed by the patient, the leading cause to delay in diagnosis and suffering. This shows that there are possible improvements to be made in the encounter between health care professionals and patients with endometriosis.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-439414 |
| Date | January 2021 |
| Creators | Chirinos, Eva, Johansson, Anna |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för folkhälso- och vårdvetenskap, Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för folkhälso- och vårdvetenskap |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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