ArticleBMC musculoskeletal disorders2023
"I wanted to know what was hurting so much": a qualitative study exploring patients' expectations and experiences with primary care management.
Article in BMC musculoskeletal disorders, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 11 citations in OpenAlex.
- Lived and Care Experiences of Chronic Musculoskeletal Shoulder Pain in Australian Adults: A Qualitative Study.Arthritis care & research · 2026Article
- "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
- Could a feedback device help manage work-related shoulder disorders?: protocol of a mixed methods pilot study.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2025Article
- Patient preferences for conservative treatment of shoulder pain: a discrete choice experiment.Family practice · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe management of shoulder pain is challenging for primary care clinicians considering that 40% of affected individuals remain symptomatic one year after initial consultation. Developing tailored knowledge mobilization interventions founded on evidence-based recommendations while also considering patients' expectations could improve primary care for shoulder pain. The aim of this qualitative study is to explore patients' expectations and experiences of their primary care consultation for shoulder pain.
methodsIn this qualitative study, participants with shoulder pain and having consulted a primary care clinician in the past year were interviewed. All the semi-structured interviews were transcribed verbatim, and inductive thematic analysis was performed to identify themes related to the participants' expectations and experiences of primary care consultations for shoulder pain.
resultsThirteen participants with shoulder pain were interviewed (8 women, 5 men; mean age 50 ± 12 years). Eleven of them initially consulted a family physician or an emergency physician, and two participants initially consulted a physiotherapist. Four overarching themes related to patients' expectations and experiences were identified from our thematic analysis: 1) I can't sleep because of my shoulder; 2) I need to know what is happening with my shoulder; 3) But… we need to really see what is going on to help me!; and 4) Please take some time with me so I can understand what to do!. Several participants waited until they experienced a high level of shoulder pain before making an appointment since they were not confident about what their family physician could do to manage their condition. Although some participants felt that their physician took the time to listen to their concerns, many were dissatisfied with the limited assessment and education provided by the clinician.
conclusionsImplementing evidence-based recommendations while considering patients' expectations is important as it may improve patients' satisfaction with healthcare. Several participants reported that their expectations were not met, especially when it came to the explanations provided. One unexpected finding that emerged from this study was the waiting period between the onset of shoulder pain and when patients decided to consult their primary care clinician.
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