ArticleBMC medical research methodology2017
A mega-ethnography of eleven qualitative evidence syntheses exploring the experience of living with chronic non-malignant pain.
Article in BMC medical research methodology, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07363746 (Implementation and Evaluation of a Novel Pain School Intervention Targeting Patients With Chronic Non-cancer Pain as a Tool to Achieve Value in Healthcare.), which is not on this map. Cited by 62 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Implementation and Evaluation of a Novel Pain School Intervention Targeting Patients With Chronic Non-cancer Pain as a Tool to Achieve Value in Healthcare.
Who cites it
62 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- A transdisciplinary framework for chronic illness and chronic pain: a sequential qualitative meta-synthesis.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- "It Is a Vicious Circle": Experiences of People Living With Obesity and Chronic Pain: A Qualitative Evidence Synthesis (QES).Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2026Pooled it
- Exploring the Beliefs, Perceptions, and Experiences of Individuals With Tendinopathy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Ethnography of Qualitative Studies.Physical therapy · 2025Pooled it
- A Mega-Ethnography of Qualitative Meta-Syntheses on Return to Work in People with Chronic Health Conditions.Die Rehabilitation · 2024Pooled it
- A Meta-Synthesis of the Experience of Chronic Temporomandibular Disorder Patients Within Health Care ServicesJournal of oral & facial pain and headache · 2023Pooled it
- A meta-synthesis of qualitative literature on female chronic pelvic pain for the development of a core outcome set: a systematic review.International urogynecology journal · 2021Pooled it
- A methodological systematic review of meta-ethnography conduct to articulate the complex analytical phases.BMC medical research methodology · 2019Pooled it
- Impact of the Osijek Multidisciplinary Biopsychosocial Program on Chronic Low Back Pain: A Prospective Randomized Controlled Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Trial
- Expectations and communication in opioid pain management: a qualitative study of patients' experience.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2026Article
- The Development of Spinal Pain Beliefs: Patient Journey Mapping From Onset of Symptoms to MRI: A Qualitative Interview Study.Musculoskeletal care · 2026Article
- Towards a holistic understanding of pain in the biomarker age.Nature neuroscience · 2026Article
- Patients' Experiences of Multimodal Rehabilitation for Chronic Pain in Primary Care.Musculoskeletal care · 2026Article
- Article
- Review
- Data analysis and presentation methods in umbrella reviews/overviews of reviews in health care: A cross-sectional study.Research synthesis methods · 2026Article
- Evaluating online health information on PIFP: A cross-platform analysis of content quality and readability.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- "It's hard to trust an individual, it's easier to trust an image"-patients with low back pain want imaging as a means of coping with uncertainty.BMC primary care · 2025Article
- Staying at Work with Musculoskeletal Pain in a Physically Demanding Job: A Qualitative Exploration of Workers' and Managers' Perspectives.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2025Article
- Stakeholder views of behavioral interventions for children and adolescents with obesity: Mega-ethnography of qualitative syntheses.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2025Review
- How the clinical encounter shapes diagnostic uncertainty in pediatric chronic pain.The journal of pain · 2025Article
2 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundEach year over five million people develop chronic non-malignant pain and can experience healthcare as an adversarial struggle. The aims of this study were: (1) to bring together qualitative evidence syntheses that explore patients' experience of living with chronic non-malignant pain and develop conceptual understanding of what it is like to live with chronic non-malignant pain for improved healthcare; (2) to undertake the first mega-ethnography of qualitative evidence syntheses using the methods of meta-ethnography.
methodsWe used the seven stages of meta-ethnography refined for large studies. The innovation of mega-ethnography is to use conceptual findings from qualitative evidence syntheses as primary data. We searched 7 bibliographic databases from inception until February 2016 to identify qualitative evidence syntheses that explored patients' experience of living with chronic non-malignant pain.
resultsWe identified 82 potential studies from 556 titles, screened 34 full text articles and included 11 qualitative evidence syntheses synthesising a total of 187 qualitative studies reporting more than 5000 international participants living with chronic pain. We abstracted concepts into 7 conceptual categories: (1) my life is impoverished and confined; (2) struggling against my body to be me; (3) the quest for the diagnostic 'holy grail'; (4) lost personal credibility; (5) trying to keep up appearances; (6) need to be treated with dignity; and (7) deciding to end the quest for the grail is not easy. Each conceptual category was supported by at least 7 of the 11 qualitative evidence syntheses.
conclusionsThis is the first mega-ethnography, or synthesis of qualitative evidence syntheses using the methods of meta-ethnography. Findings help us to understand that the decision to end the quest for a diagnosis can leave patients feeling vulnerable and this may contribute to the adversarial nature of the clinical encounter. This knowledge demonstrates that treating a patient with a sense that they are worthy of care and hearing their story is not an adjunct to, but integral to health care.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.