Institute of Health and Nature, Ilisimatusarfik/ University of Greenland, Manutooq 1, 3905, Nuussuaq, Greenland.
Greenland Center of Health Research, Institute of Health and Nature, Ilisimatusarfik/ University of Greenland, Manutooq 1, 3905, Nuussuaq, Greenland.
Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol. 2024 Mar;178:111888. doi: 10.1016/j.ijporl.2024.111888. Epub 2024 Feb 6.
The Greenlandic population has one of the world's highest prevalence of otitis media (OM). Approximately 9-14% of all children suffer from OM during childhood. Due to the climate, lack of infrastructure, and minimal access to specialist services, the Greenlandic healthcare system operates under significant challenges. To support treatment implementation, we explored parental experiences of having a child with recurrent acute otitis media (rAOM) and chronic suppurative otitis media in Greenland (CSOM).
We applied a qualitative methodology with semi-structured interviews, to investigate parents' individual experiences. We included parents from six selected towns and settlements in Greenland, who were primary caregivers to minimum one child who had suffered from rAOM or CSOM. The interviews followed a semi-structured interview guide.
Eight interviews were conducted with ten parents (nine mothers, one father) to 13 children (nine girls, four boys) aged two to 20 years (median age five years). We carried out a hermeneutic-phenomenological, Ricoeur-inspired text analysis of data. The first episode of OM was associated with uncertainty about the condition, including pain relief and treatment. However, recurrence led to symptom recognition and a changed disease perception among the parents: from being a simple case of childhood OM to a recognition of a chronic condition that might lead to delayed linguistic development and hearing impairment.
Under difficult healthcare situations, parents represented a unique resource in care and treatment implementation. Parents often feel alone with the responsibility of care and had concerns for their child's hearing and language development, and they wished for their experiences and observations to be actively included in consultations.
格陵兰人口中耳炎（OM）的患病率居世界之首。大约 9-14%的儿童在童年时期会患 OM。由于气候、基础设施缺乏以及获得专科服务的机会有限，格陵兰的医疗保健系统面临着重大挑战。为了支持治疗的实施，我们探讨了格陵兰父母在孩子患有复发性急性中耳炎（rAOM）和慢性化脓性中耳炎（CSOM）时的经历。
我们采用半结构式访谈的定性方法，调查父母的个体经历。我们纳入了来自格陵兰六个选定的城镇和定居点的父母，他们是至少有一个患有 rAOM 或 CSOM 的孩子的主要照顾者。访谈遵循半结构化访谈指南。
对 13 名年龄在 2 至 20 岁（中位数为 5 岁）的儿童（9 名女孩，4 名男孩）的 10 位父母（9 位母亲，1 位父亲）进行了 8 次访谈。我们对数据进行了伦里希启发式的解释学现象学文本分析。第一次 OM 发作与对病情的不确定性有关，包括缓解疼痛和治疗。然而，复发导致父母对疾病的认识发生了变化：从单纯的儿童 OM 转变为认识到这是一种慢性疾病，可能导致语言发育迟缓和听力受损。
在困难的医疗保健情况下，父母在护理和治疗实施方面代表了独特的资源。父母常常感到独自承担着护理责任，他们对孩子的听力和语言发育感到担忧，并希望他们的经验和观察能够积极纳入咨询。
