To be a helpless helpoholic--GPs' experiences of women patients with non-specific muscular pain.
OBJECTIVE
To explore and describe what it means to be a GP meeting patients with non-specific symptoms.


METHODS
Focus group interviews analysed in a phenomenological approach.


METHODS
GPs at two urban healthcare centres from a big city, a low socioeconomic area with mostly immigrants and a high socioeconomic area, and from a smaller town.


METHODS
14 GPs in 3 focus groups.


RESULTS
The essence of the study was the GPs' feeling of being a "helpless helpoholic". All GPs specified the patient with non-specific symptoms as a female patient with muscular pain. The key constituents were: inconsistent patient, insufficient tools, frustration, helplessness, and devotion to help. The tools were described as communication skills, biomedical education, and holistic perspective. Even if most informants were trained in communication skills, this did not help to avoid the feeling of helplessness.


CONCLUSIONS
To be a "helpless helpoholic" may make the GPs less patient-centred and may create even more feelings of frustration and helplessness. This can be an important reason why consultations with female patients with non-specific muscular pain often fail.
Lundh
Christel
C
Department of Primary Health Care, The Sahlgrenska Academy at Göteborg University, Göteborg, Sweden. christel.lundh@allmed.gu.se
Segesten
Kerstin
K
Björkelund
Cecilia
C
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003142:Communication; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005194:Family Practice; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D009140:Musculoskeletal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D010146:Pain / Q000175:diagnosis*; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010821:Physicians, Family / Q000523:psychology; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden