¶ … Guard: An Exploration of Women Abuse in a Group of Women With Musculoskeletal Pain
In this article Hamberg, Johansson and Lindgren explore abuse in women suffering from long-term musculoskeletal pain. Twenty participants were examined and date acquired through semi-structured interviews. They authors suggest that when treating women with UMSD (undefined long-term musculoskeletal pain) abuse is a primary subject that needs be explored and considered.
The authors base their exploration on the theory that a woman's experience of abuse is often the source of negative health problems, but also that women are generally reluctant to acknowledge spontaneous abuse and thus it is rarely recognized. Abuse for purposes of the study is defined as physical or sexual violence as well as threats from a partner or male that is close to them.
Hypothesis:
The hypothesis the researchers present is well grounded, based on scientific evidence that suggests that many women, potentially women with a history of abuse, present in the primary doctor's office with non-descript symptoms including pain, fatigue and headaches. The hypothesis is testable. The questions are not stated in a way that fosters a hidden agenda or alternative meanings. Further the authors point out that often times these patients are viewed as 'problematic' by their physicians. There may be some bias in the original hypothesis, as it seems the authors do go into the research with the opinion that abuse is occurring among women with UMSD.
Section 3: Method:
The authors conduct their study over the course of two years by interviewing...
UMSD was selected as a disease with a potential underlying cause for abuse based on the assumption the authors make that the condition is one where no biomedical diagnosis can be determined that adequately explains symptoms. Women of different ages and with similar but not the same symptoms were interviewed.
The researchers approach makes sense and is grounded in theory which suggests that interviewing is a solid method for investigating potential psychological and somatic symptoms present in patients. The authors also provided an open ended forum for interviews that allowed coverage of a broad range of topics, thus limiting potential bias from interviewees. The data was also grounded in theory by as the researchers state "repeated comparisons to find similarities and differences."
Section 4: Experiment
The experiment conducted was logical and provided information relative to the primary hypothesis and research aims. The study could not have been conducted in a better manner, as the researchers were attempting to gather insight about personal experiences which would have required in depth exploration and interviews of participants lifestyles and experiences. The authors gathered tentative findings and concepts and further tested them by re-reading the interviews again in order to compare results and gather the most comprehensive information possible.
There are no results reported of individuals that might have other underlying conditions that may affect their report of abuse.
Findings:
The authors found that it was difficult…
