Vivir con artrosis de rodilla es como… La utilidad de las metáforas para entender la experiencia vital

Aim: To analyse how people with knee osteoarthritis describe their experiences and emotions in relation to this health problem and its impact on daily life, through metaphors and other semantic expressions. Methods: Interpretative qualitative study with a phenomenological perspective. Ten people (7 women) treated in 4 Primary Care centres of Barcelona city suffering from symptomatic knee osteoarthritis, were interviewed. The analysis was conducted following the procedures of thematic content analysis and categorised according to the Lazarus-Folkman stress model. Results: Structured into 6 categories: cognitive evaluation, coping strategies, values, social support, beliefs, and emotions. Many metaphors for pain assessment are used. The experience is valued as threat/challenge, loss, or improvement. Cognitive and behavioural coping strategies are identified. Family, friends, and taking care of others are the most featured values. The perceived social support was classified as emotional and practical. Metaphors refer mainly to beliefs about life, body, old age, food, and other people. Metaphors about sadness, decline, joy, and guilt indicate a high emotional intensity. Belligerent, positive, and mechanistic metaphors emerge. Conclusions: The metaphors analysis allows helps to understand the experience of the disease in depth. The Lazarus-Folkman stress model was an effective tool for the categorisation of metaphors. The most frequent were the belligerent ones and those indicating Jewish-Christian values (sacrifice/surrender). Listening with care, interpreting narratives, and using positive metaphors could change experiences, thoughts, and coping strategies of knee osteoarthritis.