Admission Care for Bell’s Palsy Patients: A Qualitative Report on Patient Experiences^※

Article information

J Korean Acupunct Moxib Soc. 2013;30(5):11-23

Publication date (electronic) : 2013 December 20

doi : https://doi.org/10.13045/acupunct.2013042

Seung Min Lee, Sung Pil Yang, Eun Suk Kim, Min Jun Lee, Ji Min Park, Dong Woo Nam, Jung Won Kang, Sang Hoon Lee

Department of Acupuncture & Moxibustion, College of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University

^※

This study is supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea(NRF) grant funded by the Korea government(MEST)(No.2011-002898)

^*Corresponding author : Department of Acupuncture & Moxibustion Medicine, Kyung Hee University Oriental Medicine Hospital, 23, Kyungheedae-ro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, 130-872, Republic of Korea, Tel : 02-958-9157 E-mail : shlee777@khu.ac.kr

Received 2013 August 27; Revised 2013 August 30; Accepted 2013 August 30.

Abstract

Objectives:

The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of patients admitted for Bell’s palsy in a Korean medicine hospital to identify whether admission is necessary and beneficial.

Methods:

A semi-structured interview was conducted on 9 patients who had experience in both the inpatient and the outpatient treatment for Bell’s palsy. Their experiences from inception of first symptoms to admission into the Facial Palsy Center in Kyung Hee University Korean Medicine Hospital were interviewed along with their thoughts and feelings. The interviews took place after discharge home at a pre-scheduled date and time in a quiet room at the hospital between July 2013 and August 2013. The subjects were purposefully selected until saturation of information was met.

Results:

Nine participants were interviewed and patients’ concerns and priorities were identified. At the acute stage, patients experienced anxiety and all of the female patients and one male patient felt embarrassed of their facial disfigurement. With time, the patients felt impatient of their symptoms and turned to Korean medicine for additional treatment. Providing psychological stability seemed to be an important factor for patients.

Conclusions:

This study provides insight into the experiences of patients with Bell’s palsy, and is significantly the first ever qualitative report to focus on the patient’s needs and concerns during admission care for symptoms of Bell’s palsy. Admission care can provide many physical and psychological benefits for the patients especially during the acute stage.

Keywords: Admission care; Bell’s palsy; Qualitative report

Table 1.

Characteristics of Participants

References

1. Finsterer J. Management of peripheral facial nerve palsy. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 2008;265(7):743–52.

2. Hong KE. Prevalence and treatment of pattern of Korean patients with facial palsy. J Kor Acup Mox 2010;27(3):137–46.

3. Peitersen E. The natural history of Bell’s palsy. Am J Otol 1982;4(2):107–11.

4. Gronseth GS, Paduga R. Evidence-based guideline update: Steroids and antivirals for Bell palsy. Neurology 2012;79:2209–13.

5. Min YK, Ahn CB, Jang KJ, et al. An analysis of clinical prognosis factors of Bell’s palsy. Journal of Korean Acupuncture & Moxibustion Society 2008;25(3):163–77.

6. Fu L, Bundy C, Sadiq SA. Psychological distress in people with disfigurement from facial palsy. Eye 2011;25:1322–6.

7. Anderson G. Anxiety, optimism, and symptoms reporting following surgery for acoustic neuroma. J Psychosom Res 1999;118(6):790–6.

8. Van Swearingen JM, Cohn J, Turnbull J, Mirzai T, Johnson P. Psychological distress: linking impairment with disability in facial neuromotor disorders. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 1998;118(6):790–6.

9. Son IS, Seo JC, Cho TS, et al. The effects of admission care on Bell’s palsy-case control study. Journal of Korean Acupuncture & Moxibustion Society 2002;19(2):201–10.

10. Pope C, Mays N. Qualitative research: reaching the parts other methods cannot reach: an introduction to qualitative methods in health and health services research. British Medical Journal 1995;311(6996):42–5.

11. Lee HY, Son HM, Kim SY, Song MY, Lee JH, Park HJ. Acupuncture experience in patients with chronic low back pain : A qualitative study. Korean J Acupunct 2010;27(2):183–201.

12. Kim SY, Lee KB, Lee HS, et al. Acupuncture experiences in patients with chronic low back pain(2): A qualitative study – Focused on participants in randomized controlled trial. Korean J Acupunct 2012;29(4):581–97.

13. Kim SY, Chae YB, Lee HS, Ko YM, Lee HJ, Park HJ. Study for clinicians’ perception on the acupuncture research and ways to symbiosis between basic research and clinical practice. Korean J Acupunct 2012;29(2):224–38.

14. Speziale HJ, Carpenter DR. Qualitative research in nursing: Advancing the humanistic imperative 4th edth ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins; 2007.

15. Yoo KW, Jeong JW, Kim YS, Kim HB. Understanding the basics of qualitative research methodology Seoul: Parkyoungsa; 2012. p. 150.

16. Huberman AM, Miles MB. Anlyse des donnees qualitatives. Recueil de nouvelles methodes. Collection pedagogie en developpement. Methodologie de recherche De Boeck Universite, Editions du Renouveau pedagogique. p. 480.

17. Lee EM, Jun JO. An Exploratory Study on the Customer’s Psychological Mechanisms. Korean Society of Consumer Studies 2012;23(4):131–54.

18. Park JW. An invitation to the revolution of qualitative research – Nvivo 8 Seoul: Hyungsung; 2009. p. 139.

19. Speziale HJ, Carpenter DR. Qualitative research in nursing: advancing the humanistic imperative Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2007. p. 43–51.

20. Sandelowski M. The problem of rigor in qualitative research. Advance in Nursing Science 1986;8:27–37.

21. Tong A, Sainsbury P, Craig JC. Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ): a 32-item checklist for interviews and focus groups. Int J Qual Health Care 2007;19(6):349–57.

22. Kuehner C. Gender differences in unipolar depression : an update of epidemiological findings and possible explanations. Acta Psychiatr Scand 2003;108(3):163–74.

23. MacGregor FC. Social psychological and cultural dimensions of cosmetic and reconstructive plastic surgery. Aesth Plast Surg 1989;13(1):1–8.

Article information Continued

This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Table 1.

Characteristics of Participants

Code	Gender		Occupation	Residence	Date of onset	Date of admission	Admission period	H-B Gr at admission	H-B Gr at date of interview
S001	F	30	Office worker	Gyungkido	2013.06.08	2013.06.20	15	III	II
S002	M	30	Office worker	Seoul	2013.06.14	2013.06.18	11	IV	II
S003	M	59	Electrician	Seoul	2013.06.23	2013.07.01	5	IV	III
S004	F	44	Housewife	Gyungkido	2013.07.06	2013.07.08	15	IV	III
S005	M	33	Engineer	Canada	2013.07.04	2013.07.19	8	III	II
S006	F	53	Housewife	Gyungkido	2013.07.10	2013.07.16	12	IV	II
S007	F	52	Housewife	Seoul	2013.02.21	2013.07.04	28	II	II
S008	M	40	Production line worker	Seoul	2013.06.03	2013.07.22	12	III	II
S009	F	59	Housewife	Seoul	2012.070.9	2013.04.30	15	IV	III

H-B Gr : House-Brackmann grade.