Uncovering the Meaning of Life of Patients with Fibromyalgia — What Medical Questionnairs and Intake Interviews Show Us

• Published in: Comprehensive Medicine Vol. 18; no. 1; pp. 41 - 48
• Main Authors: Otsuki, Chika, Shiwa, Satoko, Nagata, Katsutaro, Itou, Chizuru, Otsuka, Risa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: International Foundation of Comprehensive Medicine 25.01.2020; 公益財団法人 国際全人医療研究所
• Subjects: chronic pain; Fibromyalgia; intake interview; normal life; the meaning of life; インテーク・インタビュー; 実存性; 慢性疼痛; 普通の生活; 線維筋痛症
• ISSN: 1341-7150; 2434-687X
• DOI: 10.32183/ifcm.18.1_41

[Objective] At our clinic, we conduct an intake interview, in which questions asked are set in the context of comprehensive medicine. Patients with fibromyalgia (FMS) often shed tears when their existential problems as well as psycho-social issues are touched upon. This study considers the meaning of life of FMS patients by analyzing their answers to medical questionnaires.[Methods] Based on the questionnaires from 58 FMS patients, the author assessed the answers to questions on their existential aspect. Their answers were compared with those of 30 patients who had local pain (e.g. trigeminal neuralgia and diabetic neuropathy) and 32 healthy people with occupation. The questionnaire consists of the following 4 sections: (1) What do you think is truly significant in your life? (2) What brings you joy and happiness? (3) Why do you desire health? (4) What would you like to do when you are restored to health? “Patient-centered medicine” adopted in the United States was used as a model to develop questions in this study.[Results] In section 1, most FMS patients answered that family mattered most to them, followed by health. In section 2, family came in first with relationships in the second. Section 3 revealed that 50% of FMS patients wanted to be healthy for their own sake while 47% for someone they cared about. (3% did not answer.) On the other hand, 73% of patients with local pain wanted to be healthy for their own sake and 27% for someone they cared about. Section 4 showed that 59% of FMS patients desired ordinary experiences while 19% wanted extraordinary experiences such as travel. In contrast, 30% of local pain patients wished for ordinary experiences and 40% for extraordinary experiences.[Conclusions] It was thought that many FMS patients deepened their insights into themselves while struggling against widespread pain every day. This experience was considered to finally lead them to the awareness of their longing to be useful to someone, or the meaning of their lives. FMS patients perhaps had a real sense how irreplaceable a normal life was. They also seemed to know intuitively that they were suffering from a functional disorder, and have hope that they could return to a normal life. It is crucial that therapists should respect the very hope of patients' and assist patients throughout treatment.