Patients' experiences of consultations for nonspecific chronic orofacial pain: A phenomenological study

Aims: To use a qualitative research study to analyze the experiences of patients with nonspecific chronic orofacial pain with respect to consultations for their pain condition. Methods: Fourteen patients (11 women and 3 men; age range, 21 to 77 years) were strategically selected through a purposive sampling of the chronic orofacial pain patients referred to the Orofacial Pain Unit at the Faculty of Odontology, Malmo University, Malmo, Sweden. A qualitative research strategy based on phenomenological philosophy was chosen. Thematic in-depth interviews were conducted twice with each patient in order to expose the context of the orofacial pain condition. The interviews were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. The text material was analyzed to determine the attitude of the patients concerning their experience from the consultations. Results: All selected patients consented to participate. The patients expressed dissatisfaction with the consultations and related many examples of poor communication and understanding. The patients also felt a great need to be taken care of and expressed contradictory statements concerning pain improvement. Conclusion: The results suggest that the communication between the patients and the care providers was unsatisfactory and that the patients were limited in their ability to develop a personal coping strategy.