Skip to main content

Table 2 The coding tree

From: Living with idiopathic basal ganglia calcification 3: a qualitative study describing the lives and illness of people diagnosed with a rare neurological disease

Categories

Subcategories

Frustration and anxiety with progression of symptoms without being diagnosed

Had not felt any physical abnormality in their teens

Were recommended to consult doctors by their friends and parents

Had obsessed with anxiety about the unknown disease and progression of their symptoms

Confusion about diagnosis with an unfamiliar disease

Got upset when they heard the diagnosis was a genetic and intractable disease

Calmly understood the situation afterwards

Did not check because there was fear about knowing

Were not able to obtain sufficient information about the disease on the Internet and were not satisfied with the information

Emotional distress caused by a genetic disease

Tended to avoid contacting their brothers and sisters, who did not have the same symptoms

Confessing to their supervisors about contracting the disease to account for their absences to consult doctors

Concerns for marriage and childbirth

Passive attitude toward life, being extra careful

Dealt with things while embracing the anxiety

Had experienced troubles in life that others could not know

Taking charge of life, becoming active and engaged

Were willing to communicate with other patients with the same disease

Recognized that life was not only for oneself

Requests for healthcare

Specialized doctors and hospitals should be increased

medical financial supports must be provided

Expected enactment of laws allowing euthanasia