Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm - Disease or a Defect - Patients’ Perceptions of Aortic Aneurysm in the Presence of Multimorbidity

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  • Chalotte Winther Nicolajsen
  • Mette Søgaard
  • Eldrup, Nikolaj
  • Rikke Boeriis Leth Mikkelsen
  • Anette Arbjerg Højen

Objectives: Abdominal aortic aneurysm is associated with substantial comorbidity and significant long-term mortality. Reduction of cardiovascular risk factors and smoking cessation improves prognosis, but implementation of recommendations is suboptimal. Patient's disease-awareness and level of multimorbidity are important factors affecting treatment- adherence. This study explored the perception of disease in patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms and multimorbidity. Methods: In a qualitative design we assessed patients’ perception of aortic aneurysms in the presence of multimorbidity and cardiovascular risk factors. We conducted a workshop including patients from the aneurysm ultrasound-surveillance-program at a tertiary vascular department. Data from the workshop were analyzed using a qualitative exploratory design with an inductive approach. Results: A total of 10 patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm and multimorbidity participated in the workshop. Three categories describing the patient's perception of disease emerged from the analysis. (1) Abdominal aortic aneurysm is not a disease; it is a defect, (2) Someone else is in control, (3) Abdominal aortic aneurysm is an isolated condition. Conclusion: Patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms and multimorbidity did not perceive their aneurysm as a disease, but merely as a bodily defect. Growth and rupture of the aneurysm were the main concerns related to the condition, and the participants relied solely on the health professionals to control this by regular ultrasound-surveillance. Consequently, the participants did not perceive abdominal aortic aneurysm as a motivation for cardiovascular risk factor modification by optimization in medication or smoking-cessation.

OriginalsprogEngelsk
TidsskriftAnnals of Vascular Surgery
Vol/bind75
Sider (fra-til)380-389
Antal sider10
ISSN0890-5096
DOI
StatusUdgivet - 2021

Bibliografisk note

Funding Information:
We thank the participants of the workshop for their contribution, as well as the Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery at Aarhus University Hospital in Aarhus, Denmark for facilitating the project. Conception and design: CN, MS, NE, RM, AH, Data Collection: CN, RM, AH, Analysis and Interpretation: CN, AH, Writing the manuscript: CN, AH, Critical Revision of Manuscript: CN, MS, NE, AH, Approval of Manuscript: CN, MS, NE, RM, AH Conflict of Interest: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. Funding Sources: This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021

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