Qualitative dyadic analysis in care partnership research: a scoping review

Chronic illness impacts not only individuals affected by it, but also those who care for them. Care partnerships recognize that health conditions are often shared, dyadic experiences. Qualitative dyadic analysis, which foregrounds the dyad as the unit of analysis, is a method that can enhance understanding of illness as a joint experience. However, when perspectives of dyad members are collected separately, their subsequent analysis as a unit can be challenging.

To review and summarize qualitative literature where data have been collected through separate individual interviews with patient and care partner dyads and analyzed at the dyadic level.

A scoping review guided by Joanna Briggs Institute methodology was undertaken. Databases (Ovid's Medline, Embase, and PsycINFO; EBSCO CINAHL; and ProQuest Sociological Abstracts) were searched in February 2024. Eligible articles included peer-reviewed literature published in English from 2010 onwards documenting qualitative dyadic analysis of individual interviews collected from patient and care partner dyads. Title and abstracts were screened and the full text of all potentially eligible articles was reviewed by two independent reviewers. Data were extracted using a table and results were summarized using frequency counts and qualitative content analysis.

7,494 records were identified and screened. 113 reports of 112 unique studies fulfilled eligibility criteria and were included. Numerous methodologies and analytic methods were reported, many of which incorporated methods from different qualitative traditions, often with variable sequencing of analytic steps that were infrequently well described. Studies were not routinely conceptualized at the dyadic level and underlying epistemological assumptions were rarely discussed despite their essential role in grounding dyadic analysis.

When conducting qualitative dyadic analysis, researchers should consider dyadic study conceptualization from study outset. The purpose of the analysis, the analytic steps taken, and their alignment with underlying epistemology and other incorporated methodologies should be clearly documented and reported.