Exploring the information needs of patients with unexplained chest pain
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Published on: February 3, 2021
Ingrid Ølfarnes Røysland1, Elin Dysvik, Bodil Furnes
1Department of Health Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway.
Insights
Patients with unexplained chest pain often have unmet information needs. Healthcare providers should adopt a person-centered, biopsychosocial approach to improve patient care and satisfaction.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Psychology
- Nursing
Background:
- Unexplained chest pain (UCP) is a prevalent condition where many patients continue to experience symptoms despite negative cardiac investigations.
- Diagnosing UCP is challenging due to multifactorial causes, necessitating a deeper understanding of patient information requirements.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore and describe the information needs of patients experiencing unexplained chest pain.
- To evaluate how effectively health professionals met these information needs during medical consultations.
Main Methods:
- A qualitative research design was employed.
- Seven individual interviews were conducted with patients (4 women, 3 men; aged 21-62).
- Interview data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis.
Main Results:
- Patients reported unmet information needs, categorized under "experiencing lack of focus on individual problems" and "experiencing unanswered questions."
- A significant gap exists between the information patients require and what is provided during consultations.
Conclusions:
- Consultation models need enhancement with a person-centered approach, addressing patient beliefs, perceptions, and emotions regarding UCP.
- A biopsychosocial model, emphasizing active patient participation, shared decision-making, and multidisciplinary care, is recommended.
- This integrated approach aligns with nursing's domain, prioritizing the patient's lived experience.
Background:
Unexplained chest pain is a common condition. Despite negative findings, a large number of these patients will continue to suffer from chest pain after being investigated at cardiac outpatient clinics. Unexplained chest pain covers many possible complaints, and diagnosing a single cause for a patient's pain is often described as difficult, as there are a number of possible factors that can contribute to the condition. For health professionals to meet patients' expectations, they must know more about the information needs of patients with unexplained chest pain. The aim of this study was to describe information needs among patients with unexplained chest pain and how those needs were met by health professionals during medical consultations.
Methods:
A qualitative design was used. Data were collected by means of seven individual interviews with four women and three men, aged 21-62 years. The interviews were analyzed by qualitative content analysis.
Results:
The results are described in two subthemes, ie, "experiencing lack of focus on individual problems" and "experiencing unanswered questions". These were further abstracted under the main theme "experiencing unmet information needs".
Conclusion:
Existing models of consultations should be complemented to include a person-centered approach to meeting patients' beliefs, perceptions, and expressions of feelings related to experiencing unexplained chest pain. This is in line with a biopsychosocial model with active patient participation, shared decision-making, and a multidisciplinary approach. Such an approach is directly within the domain of nursing, and aims to take into account patient experience.
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