Interpreting intracorporeal landscapes: how patients visualize pathophysiology and utilize medical images in their understanding of chronic musculoskeletal illness.
Andrew J Moore, Jane C Richardson, Miriam Bernard and 1 others
PMID 29482399WHAT IT FOUND
People with long-term joint pain often pictured what they thought was happening inside their bodies.
Some said images or knee models helped them understand their pain and what to do; others found doctors' explanations did not match their sensations.
Key findings
01One participant imagined bones rubbing together and felt this did not match the doctor's wear and tear explanation.
02Some participants said medical images helped them understand the source of their joint pain.
03Some participants said knee models helped them understand what to do and why.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
This is a secondary analysis of interview accounts, not a trial of images or models, so it cannot show whether they change pain, understanding, or behaviour. The imagined body explanations were not common to all participants and were not directly asked for, so they may represent only a subset. The analysis focused on pain from joint tissue damage in osteoarthritis; neuropathic pain may require different explanations. Medical images or models were not always available, were not standard care in the physiotherapy trial, and may not suit all patients. The paper does not report how many participants received images, models, or specific exercise advice, or which trial intervention the interviewees had received.
Declared interests
The work was supported by the National Institute for Health Research Patient Benefit programme, a National Institute for Health Research Programme Grant for Applied Research, and the Arthritis Research UK Centre in Primary Care. The supplied text does not state author conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that medical images or anatomical models will improve pain, adherence, or self-management. This paper reports patients' explanations in interviews and does not measure clinical outcomes.