Table 4 Example of sub-categories and codes
Sub-categories | Unhelpful medically-related external factors | Unhelpful internal factors related to the participants |
|---|---|---|
Codes | • Lacked knowledge • Strained medical encounters • Misdiagnosis • Delayed diagnosis • Trivialized the participants’ symptoms • Attributed symptoms to psychological causes or other conditions • Recommended unhelpful treatments and management advice • Lack of support to the participants • No established system of internal referral at the hospital | • Lacked knowledge • Trivialized own symptoms • Attributed symptoms to a common enteritis that would pass by itself • Attributed symptoms to a nervous stomach • Lack of understanding of having a serious medical condition • Difficulties understanding what was wrong with the body • Tried to fight the condition off by trying to live pre-morbid life • Lack of acceptance • Denial of reality • Lost control over the body • Overestimating own capacity • Unable to reflect on own needs and acquire help as needed |