A qualitative investigation into lived experiences of patients with hypertension in Soran District, Iraqi Kurdistan

BACKGROUND: Hypertension (HTN) which is highly prevalent is called a silent killer because it is asymptomatic at its early stages. Moreover, personal and social factors have been reported as effective causes of HTN. In this regard, the present study was aimed at investigating the lived experiences of patients with HTN living in Soran District, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, in 2018. METHODS: The current study was conducted by a qualitative method. In so doing, in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 patients with HTN who referred to Ashti Hospital in Soran District in 2018. To analyze the recorded and transcribed interviews, Van Manen's (1990) hermeneutic phenomenological method was employed, and finally the themes were obtained. RESULTS: Data analysis led to appearance of four main themes which were: denial and ignorance of the disease, disturbance in social and familial life, interference with physical and mental health, and treatment difficulty. CONCLUSION: Given the themes obtained from analyzing the interviews, medical teams are recommended to convince patients with HTN about seriousness of their disease and help them with their physical and mental health. Also, families of such patients are advised to learn how to deal with them while their blood pressure (BP) is high. And finally, governmental authorities are suggested to provide such patients with insurance services so they can afford the treatment costs.