Pain drawings and concepts of pain among patients with “half-body” complaints

ObjectiveTo explore main features of pain drawings and concepts about illness in patients seeking help for “half-body” complaints at two primary health care centres in different parts of Sweden.MethodsA qualitative study of pain-drawings and tape-recorded semi-structured interviews analysed by qualitative methods in 20 patients (4 men, 16 women, aged 37–68 years) from five health centers. Three of them were native Swedes and 17 were foreign-born.ResultsAll complained of pain in a left (three-fourth) or right (one-fourth) body-half, mainly in front. Some had general pain with a “worse side”. Many said they had pain only on the ”edges“ and outlined the margins on the side of pain, but excluded the ”face”. Posterior drawings often received a line in the middle dividing the body in lateral halves. Pain was referred to as a “growing” thing – (“It”) – that could spread (“jump”) to the other side, grow and eventually paralyse them. “It” was believed as caused by body imbalance, natural factors or supernatural forces.Conclusion“Half-body” pain was an expression that in main was used by middle-aged patients to denote an initially superficial and frontal one-sided pain that could spread and become dangerous to their health.Practice implicationsPatients with half-body complaints should be taken seriously and met with respect by doctors and other health care personnel, particularly in cross-cultural consultations.