Patients’ experiences of flexor tendon rehabilitation in relation to adherence: a qualitative study

Figures & data

Table 1. Background data on all participants regarding, gender, injury type and rehabilitation outcome in a range of motion classified according to Strickland’s criteria in patients with no ruptures, or as tendon rupture in case of rupture during rehabilitation.

No	Gender	Age	Injured tendon	Injured finger	Injured hand	Rehabilitation outcome
1	M	<31	FDP	Little	Right (dominant)	Excellent
2	F	<31	FDP	Long	Right (dominant)	Good
3	M	>50	FPL	Thumb	Left (non-dominant)	Excellent
4	M	<31	FPL	Thumb	Left (non-dominant)	Tendon rupture
5	M	<31	FDP and FDS	Index and long	Left (non-dominant)	Tendon rupture
6	F	>50	FPL	Thumb	Right (dominant)	Good
7	M	>50	FDP and FDS	Little	Left (non-dominant)	Tendon rupture
8	F	<31	FDP and FDS	Little	Left (non-dominant)	Fair
9	M	31–50	FDP and FDS	Long	Left (non-dominant)	Good
10	M	<31	FDP	Little	Right (dominant)	Tendon rupture
11	F	<31	FDP and FDS	Index	Right (dominant)	Good
12	M	<31	FDP and FDS	Ring	Left (non-dominant)	Fair
13	F	>50	FPL	Thumb	Left (non-dominant)	Tendon rupture
14	F	31–50	FDS and FDP	Little	Left (dominant)	Poor
15	M	31–50	FDP	Index	Left (non-dominant)	Poor
16	M	31–50	FDP and FDS	Index	Right (dominant)	Poor
17	M	31–50	FPL	Thumb	Right (dominant)	Tendon rupture

Flexor digitorum profundus (FDP), Flexor digitorum superficialis (FDS), Flexor pollicis longus (FPL).

Table 2. An Example of the steps taken in the data analysis.

Meaning unit	Code	Subcategory	Generic category	Main category
I believe that I would have been more cautious and would really have tried to avoid loading the tendon then. [If the perceived severity of the injury was higher]	Higher perceived severity would have led to caution.	View of severity	Comprehension of severity	Perceived severity of the injury
We had a strategy together, that she did as much as possible of all the activities needing two hands.	Partner helped in activities	Reducing cost with help from others.	Impact of friends and family	External factors
When you meet people, you have not met in a while and you describe how things are going, you become aware of how much you really can do, that there really have been a lot of improvements.	Social interaction helps in seeing progress	Efficacy improvement through social interactions	Impact of friends and family	External factors
It has been hard to exercise because the hand has been really swollen but the motivation is that you see things happen.	Despite effort, progress is motivating.	Exercise results improves motivation	Perceived efficacy of exercise	Perceived efficacy of rehabilitation

Figure 1. An overview of the results in six main categories. The result of deductive analysis of the seventeen interviews using the Health Belief Model.

A figure of six boxes containing the six main categories of the result. Each box with an arrow pointing to the center box containing the words; adherence to flexor tendon rehabilitation.