Introduction:
Consultations with patients suffering from chronic pain without
objective findings represent a challenge fo
r family doctors (FDs). A mutual lack
of understanding may arise, which threatens the doctor-patient relationship and
may lead to dissatisfaction of both patient and doctor and to a breakdown of the
therapeutic alliance.
Objectives:
This study aims to investigate FDs' potential protective practices to
preserve the doctor-patient relationship
during this type of consultation.
Method:
In the first step of this qualitative research, I carried out a range of 10 se-
mi-structured interviews with FDs to explore their reported practices and repre-
sentations during consultations with people suffering from chronic pain without objective findings. The interviews' transcripts were integrally analysed with
computer-assisted thematic content analysis (QSR NVivo
®
) to highlight the
main themes related to the topic in the participants' talk.
Results:
At this point of the research, two types of FDs' protective practices can be
identified: first the use of complementary sources of knowledge in addition to
the medical model to provide explanations
to patients, second the collaboration
with multidisciplinary teams or support gr
oups that allow them to share profes-
sional expertise and emotional experiences.
Conclusion:
The findings could be useful to develop ways to improve the follow-
up of patients suffering from chronic pain without objective findings and conse-
quently the FDs' work satisfaction.