Identification of Pre-Dominant Coping Types in Patients with Parkinson's Disease: An Abductive Content Analysis of...

People with Parkinson's disease suffer from a range of various symptoms. Altered movement patterns frequently represent the prevailing symptom experience and influence the everyday life of the affected persons.

This qualitative study explores how persons with Parkinson's disease experience everyday life with a complex symptom profile and how they manage the consequential challenges in their daily life, as well as the motivation and consequences of these coping behaviours.

Thirty-four patients with Parkinson's disease were interviewed as an integrated part of the method Video-based Narrative. The interviews were analysed by means of qualitative content analysis according to Graneheim & Lundman.

The analysis identified six predominant coping types with different behavioural traits: The convincing behaviour, The economizing behaviour, The encapsulating behaviour, The evasive behaviour, The adaptable behaviour, and The dynamic behaviour. The strategies embedded in each of the six types are diverse, but all participants seek to maintain their integrity in different ways leading to the main motivation "To stay the same person".

Healthcare professionals should be aware of the patients' various coping behaviour in order to offer a person-centred approach. Psychoeducational interventions to promote coping skills may be essential in incorporating disease-related changes in the conduct of everyday life with Parkinson's disease to maintain integrity.