The Experiences of Individuals Experiencing Pain During COVID-19 Infection: A Phenomenological Study.
Sevda Korkut, Türkan Ülker
PMID 34799242WHAT IT FOUND
Fifteen people recovering from COVID described pain as severe, widespread and distressing, disrupting sleep, movement and daily life.
Most used analgesics or home remedies, but 60% said pain relief was insufficient, and 11 feared it would return.
Key findings
01Participants reported pain mainly in joints, head, back, muscles, eyes and throat, and rated pain on average 7.73 out of 10.
02Pain disrupted sleep and made some participants feel unable to get out of bed.
0373.3% of participants used analgesics, and 60% said the methods they used were not sufficient to relieve pain.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study interviewed only 15 participants, and the authors state the findings cannot be generalised. Participants were recruited through known contacts and snowball sampling, which may favour people similar to the researchers. Most participants were university-educated, working, had no chronic disease, and only 20% were hospitalised, so experiences of older, frailer or more severely ill patients may be missing. Data were collected by telephone interviews, which may miss non-verbal cues. The study reports experiences and self-management, not tested interventions, so it cannot show which pain treatments work.
Declared interests
The authors declared no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have influenced the work.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these themes as proof that any pain treatment works or that all people with COVID pain experience it this way. The study interviewed 15 Turkish adults, mean age 34.0 ± 8.42, by telephone, and the authors state the results cannot be generalised.