From: Patients’ responses to incidentally discovered silent brain infarcts – a qualitative study
Categories | Subcategories | Representative quotations |
---|---|---|
Emotional | Fear | “I was in a panic, in a big panic.” – P2 “I’m afraid I’m going to have dementia or a major stroke.” – P2 “These were minor strokes that I didn’t even feel … any time I get a headache now I’m concerned.” – P2 |
Surprise | “I was caught unawares when the word ‘stroke’ came up.” – P10 “Nothing was mentioned about a stroke to me originally …” – P4 “My primary doctor: she was surprised. She looked so sorry for what’s happened … my body, my health was good.” – P8 | |
Personal responsibility | “There’s damage that’s already been done. I could eat healthy for the rest of my life, but it won’t necessarily undo that damage.” – P3 | |
Cognitive | Equating SBIs and strokes | “I just want to know what I can do to make myself not have another stroke.” – P11 “What is the difference between a stroke with symptoms and a stroke without?” – P11 |
Wake-up call | “It was a wake-up call. No one is promised tomorrow.” – P12 “There’s a lot I’m going to change.” – P1 “As long as it’s not a drug.” – P1 | |
Discounting | “I don’t want this to be the 800 pound gorilla on my back for the rest of my life … I’m not going to have it be like I have a stroke.” – P10 | |
Behavioral | Information seeking | “Well, I know very little except I had an MRI of my brain.” – P9 “I really don’t know what I can do. Is there a stroke diet? If you exercise or if you change behavior, will that reduce the chance of having another one?” – P10 “I’ll ask more questions regarding this and gather more information.” – P5 |
Seeking second opinions | “I’m weighing it all out now with everybody’s thoughts … Sometimes there’s different opinions. I just got to take them all out and see, put them all together and decide what to do.” – P4 | |
Seeking social support | “I don’t hide my sickness from nobody. Not my friends, not my children. I call them up and I tell them … I call my son … His son calls his aunt, his nephew, his sister, they call everybody … I call my friends, I tell them … My daughter called him, and she called my two sons in Barbados, and they called me … It’s not right to hide sickness from no one.” – P7 |