A fragile normality – illness experiences of working-age individuals with osteoarthritis in knees or hips

Abstract

Objective: Examine how individuals manage to live a life with osteoarthritis in the knee or hip.

Methods: Focus group interviews were held with ten female and two male patients aged 45–65 years, who had participated in a vocational rehabilitation programme one to five years’ earlier. The interviews were analysed using thematic analysis.

Results: Participants’ experiences are described in three themes: (1) Having “a changed and unreliable body” refers to a persistent presence of symptoms and an occasional, unpredictable flare up of symptoms involving sudden loss of movement control; (2) patients living with “(un) manageable life situations” downscale their daily activities to maintain a normal life; however, their flare-ups are unmanageable and cause significant life disruption; and (3) patients “strive to maintain an independent self” by doing their best to continue living as before without receiving any help. For the patients, continuing to participate in working life signifies an independent life that is on equal terms with others.

Conclusions: The participants of this study adjusted and managed their daily activities to continue to live a normal life in accord with cultural norms. However, unpredictable flare ups and loss of control made their otherwise normal life somewhat fragile.

Implications for rehabilitation

• •Osteoarthritis is a common disease which is often considered relatively stable, controllable and manageable.

• •This sample study highlights the participants uncertainty related to unpredictable variability in symptoms.

• •Appropriate management strategies for bad days need to be developed especially for those struggling at work.

Keywords:

• Osteoarthritis
• weight-bearing joints
• working life
• adjustment
• qualitative
• focus groups

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the respondents for being willing to share their experiences, as well as the health professionals at the Hospital of Rheumatic Diseases in Lillehammer for practical assistance with the focus groups and data entry.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no declaration of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This study was financed by a grant from the Norwegian Fund for Post-Graduate Training in Physiotherapy.