Disease - caused transformations: Phenomenological study of illness experience in people with cardiovascular diseases

Background: The experience of cardiovascular diseases affects various physical, psychological, social and existential aspects of the patient. But, after studying the research background, it was found that Each of the conducted studies have studied only one of these dimensions. Therefore, the absence of a research that examines all the mentioned components in relation to each other is a sign of the existence of a scientific gap in this field. Aims: The present research was conducted with the aim of studying the "disease experience" in people suffering from cardiovascular diseases. Methods: In this qualitative research, interpretive phenomenological method was used. Sampling was done using the purposeful sampling method and in order to collect data, a semi-structured interview based on the axes proposed by Spradley (2016) was conducted individually with 16 cardiovascular patients. The data were analyzed based on the 6-step strategy of Smith, Larkin and Flowers (2021) and using MAXQDA-2020 software. Results: From the analysis of the findings, the central category of "Disease-caused Transformations" was identified, which includes five main categories of phenomenal body, agency barrier, communication interference, difficult emotional experiences, and existential challenges. Conclusion: According to the obtained results, it can be said that cardiovascular diseases cause profound changes in various aspects of the patients' personal and social life. Using the categories identified in the current research can be a guide for specialists to evaluate that In which of the categories of "pathological changes" does the cardiovascular patient have more serious problems and as a result, it can help specialists in designing and implementing interventions according to the same category.