Rheumatoid arthritis patients' experiences of wearing therapeutic footwear - A qualitative investigation

Williams, AE; Nester, CJ; Ravey, M

Abstract

Background: Specialist 'therapeutic' footwear is recommended for patients with diseases such as
rheumatoid arthritis (RA) as a beneficial intervention for reducing foot pain, improving foot health,
and increasing general mobility. However, many patients choose not to wear this footwear.
Recommendations from previous studies have been implemented but have had little impact in
improving this situation. The aim of this study was to explore RA patients' experiences of this
footwear to ascertain the factors which influence their choice to wear it or not.
Method: Ten females and three males with RA and experience of wearing specialist footwear were
recruited from four National Health Service orthotic services. Semi-structured interviews were
carried out in the participants own homes. A hermeneutic phenomenological analysis of the
transcripts was carried out to identify themes.
Results: The analysis revealed two main themes from both the female and male groups. These
were the participants' feelings about their footwear and their experiences of the practitioner/s
involved in providing the footwear. In addition, further themes were revealed from the female
participants. These were feelings about their feet, behaviour associated with the footwear, and
their feelings about what would have improved their experience.
Conclusion: Unlike any other intervention specialist therapeutic footwear replaces something
that is normally worn and is part of an individual's body image. It has much more of a negative
impact on the female patients' emotions and activities than previously acknowledged and this
influences their behaviour with it. The patients' consultations with the referring and dispensing
practitioners are pivotal moments within the patient/practitioner relationship that have the
potential to influence whether patients choose to wear the footwear or not.

Citation

Williams, A., Nester, C., & Ravey, M. (2007). Rheumatoid arthritis patients' experiences of wearing therapeutic footwear - A qualitative investigation. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 8(104), https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2474-8-104

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Nov 1, 2007
• Deposit Date: Sep 27, 2010
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 5, 2016
• Journal: BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders
• Publisher: Springer Verlag
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 8
• Issue: 104
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2474-8-104
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2474-8-104