Patients' stories: Science, clinical facts or fairy tales?

Abstract

Objective - To explore potentials and attributes of the qualitative research interview as a tool for acquiring knowledge about illness. Design - A qualitative approach, comparing knowledge about consultations originating from 1) data from interviews with immigrant female patients, and 2) evaluative data from registration forms from the doctors. Setting and Subjects - 24 Pakistani female patients, recruited from the appointment list at a primary health care centre in central Oslo were interviewed in their homes. Evaluation forms were filled in by the ten physicians consulted. Main outcome measures - Illness knowledge derived from different communicative contexts. Contextual prerequisites suggest potential roads to the inquiry of illness applicable in the clinical context. Case stories - Patients' illness perspectives and resources were probably encouraged in the interview by means of discourse underlining the women's resources. This position may have emerged because the women were actually consulted by the interviewer. Dialogues actively seeking out the other person's illness perspective, as recommended in the qualitative interview, seem to encourage adequate exchange of medical information. Conclusion/Implications - Pursuing and modifying strategies from the qualitative interview for exploration of illness may contribute to clinical facts as well as scientific knowledge concerning illness. © 1995 Informa UK Ltd All rights reserved: reproduction in whole or part not permitted.