Untimely illness: When diagnosis does not match age-related expectations
Susan Kirkpatrick1, Louise Locock2, Albert Farre3
1Nuffield Department of Primary Health Care Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Summary
Diagnoses that don't align with age expectations, like adult-onset asthma or childhood arthritis, can be "untimely." This study examines how age perceptions delay diagnosis for these unexpected chronic conditions.
Area of Science:
- Medical Sociology
- Qualitative Health Research
- Biographical Studies
Background:
- Focuses on "untimely diagnosis," where chronic conditions appear outside expected life stages.
- Examines asthma and arthritis, typically linked to childhood and older adulthood respectively.
- Highlights a gap in literature regarding condition onset dissonant with chronological age.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the concept of "untimely diagnosis" in chronic conditions.
- To analyze how age expectations influence the recognition of illness candidacy.
- To investigate the intersection of age and diagnosis in asthma and arthritis.
Main Methods:
- Secondary analysis of 58 qualitative interviews with individuals diagnosed with adult-onset asthma and young-onset arthritis.
- Utilized a "candidacy" framework to re-analyze interview data on diagnosis and symptom recognition.
- Examined how chronological age and diagnosis interact in patient and clinician perspectives.
Main Results:
- Patients' "candidacy" for conditions was sometimes unasserted due to age-related expectations.
- Health professionals occasionally overlooked diagnoses, favoring "age-plausible" explanations.
- Delayed diagnoses occurred, with some participants proactively suggesting their condition.
Conclusions:
- Adult-onset asthma and childhood arthritis represent "untimely" diagnoses.
- These diagnoses can create a "biographical paradox" and disrupt the expected life order.
- Perceptions of conditions being tied to specific ages can impede timely medical intervention.
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