J Korean Acad Nurs.  2017 Jun;47(3):289-304. 10.4040/jkan.2017.47.3.289.

Illness Experience of Married Korean Women with Epilepsy

• Shon YM
• Joung WJ

• KMID: 2426460
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4040/jkan.2017.47.3.289

Abstract

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to understand and describe the illness experience of married Korean women with epilepsy.
METHODS
Data were collected during 2015~2016 through individual in-depth interviews with 12 married women with epilepsy. Verbatim transcripts were analyzed using Giorgi's phenomenological analysis to uncover the meaning of the illness experience of the participants.
RESULTS
The study results showed that the illness experience of married Korean women with epilepsy was clustered into a specific description of situated structure and a general description of situated structure. Six themes from 20 meaning units were identified: 1) Undermined self-esteem with stigma of being epileptic; 2) Limited social interaction; 3) Suffering sorrow as a "˜disqualified being'; 4) Shuttling back and forth across the boundary between healthy and epileptic; 5) Desperate struggle to meet the expectation of given role; 6) Self-empowering through self-restriction and realization.
CONCLUSION
The findings from this study show that both the enacted and felt stigma of epilepsy impact on the life of married Korean women with epilepsy. Although the participants face social and interpersonal restriction and prejudices, they try their best to fulfill their role rather than to be cared for as patients. As the stigma and hardships of the participants are related to lack of knowledge, health professionals should focus not just on clinical intervention but also on providing targeted educational programs and counseling for these women to dispel the stigma of the disease and to increase their quality of life.

Keyword

Epilepsy; Woman; Marriage; Qualitative research

MeSH Terms

Adult
Anticonvulsants/therapeutic use
Asian Continental Ancestry Group
Depression
Epilepsy/drug therapy/pathology/*psychology
Female
Humans
Interpersonal Relations
Interviews as Topic
Loneliness
Marriage
Middle Aged
Republic of Korea
Self Concept
Social Stigma
Women

Reference

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