A qualitative study on the causes of delayed decisions to seek medical attention among patients with ischemic stroke
10.12026/j.issn.1001-8565.2025.05.08
- VernacularTitle:缺血性脑卒中患者决定就医延迟原因的质性研究
- Author:
Xue LI
1
;
Kaili FAN
1
;
Shouping GONG
2
Author Information
1. Department of Nursing， the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University， Xi’an 710004， China
2. Xi’an Medical University， Xi’an 710021， China
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
ischemic stroke;
decision to seek medical attention;
delay;
qualitative study
- From:
Chinese Medical Ethics
2025;38(5):596-601
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
ObjectiveTo learn the inner experience of decisions to seek medical attention among patients with ischemic stroke and to explore the factors that affect patients’ early decisions to seek medical attention， providing a basis for formulating intervention measures to reduce patient delays. MethodsUsing qualitative research methods， semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 24 patients with ischemic stroke who had delayed seeking medical attention through purposive sampling， and the data were analyzed by category analysis method. ResultsThe five major themes that affected ischemic stroke patients’ decisions to seek medical attention were symptom experience （insufficient attention to disease and the impact of symptoms on the patients）， symptom assessment （symptom perception， symptom interpretation， and symptom recognition）， symptom response （psychological denial and self-relief）， prior knowledge of the diseases （deficient knowledge and stroke experience）， as well as environmental-social factors （morbidity context， external information support， and medical insurance）. ConclusionUnder the guidance of cognitive， psychosocial， and environmental frameworks， targeted intervention strategies should be proposed to reduce the incidence of delayed decisions to seek medical attention among patients with ischemic stroke.
