Table 1 Example patient statements from the development of the QOLPAD
Item # | Item content | Quotation |
|---|---|---|
1 | Walking difficulties | “The pain-free walking distance is becoming shorter and shorter; necessary breaks become longer and longer; you cannot walk as you want to anymore.” “Everything is slower because I must take breaks.” |
2 | Leg pain | “Walking is no longer possible after 10–15 m due to severe pain; there is also pain at rest, but it is even stronger when walking.” “After 100 or 250 m severe pain in the lower legs” |
3 | Leg paresthesia | “Numbness in the toes; toes feel like they are frozen; a type of tingling that prevents sleeping at night” “It started with tingling, now pain (longer and at shorter intervals) and numbness in the foot; stinging/burning in the calves” |
4 | Open sores on legs | “Wound on the foot for 8 years, wound hurts especially when walking” “Open sores” |
5 | Help in everyday life | “Help with grocery shopping and household chores” “Household is no longer manageable, dependent on help, grocery shopping no longer possible” |
6 | Take part in everyday life | “Less active” “Everything becomes complicated.” “Driving is only possible to a limited extent.” |
7 | Working life | “No longer able to work in previous jobs; no longer able to walk long distances, have to interrupt (…) longer walking distances at work because of the severe pain” “Contact with customers can no longer be maintained in the same way as it could without the circulatory disorder.” |
8 | Spare time | “Long-term plans (e.g., holidays) no longer possible for fear of renewed occlusion of the artificial artery” “No sports” |
9 | Treatment | “Constant visits to the doctor and physiotherapy” “Taking tablets every day; frequent hospital stays” |
10 | Social environment | “Neglecting the social environment due to listlessness and the physical condition” “Less resilient, therefore less time with other dog owners” |
11 | Ill-humored | “No normal acting, living, thinking possible; demotivation; life not worth living without help” “At times, feeling of being angry” |
12 | Worries about illness worsening | “Fear of amputation” “Fear of surgery” |