Illness Experience of Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C Participating in Clinical Trials

OBJECTIVES: To understand the illness experience of patients with chronic hepatitis C participating in clinical trials in the sociocultural context of Korea in an in-depth and comprehensive manner. METHODS: A focused ethnography approach was used to discover the pattern of illness experience of patients with chronic hepatitis C in the cultural background of Korea. Interviews were conducted with 11 patients with chronic hepatitis C participating in clinical trials and the collected data were analyzed with the domain analysis, taxonomical analysis, componential analysis, and theme analysis proposed by Spradley. RESULTS: With the cultural theme of “less-known illness, less-familiar illness,” four categories were derived: “my illness discovered by accident,” “shaken life,” “scary but inevitable treatment method,” and “precious life that can't be wasted,” along with 12 properties. CONCLUSION: Public campaigns or education programs are needed to meet the needs for information on the disease for patients with chronic hepatitis C participating in clinical trials and help the general public acquire knowledge or change view on this disease.