Abstract
This paper examines the lived experience of uncertain medical diagnosis in patients with a serious injury.
Data reported in this article are from the qualitative component of a multi-method study. Nineteen participants were purposively selected from a longitudinal quantitative study (n = 2856) undertaken in five regions of New Zealand, investigating the outcomes of injury. This article reports results from qualitative interviews taking place approximately 6 months after the injury event.
The results section focuses on the lived experience of the injured patient who does not have a definite diagnosis. It describes the difficulty of persuading both health professionals and the workplace to take ongoing injury effects seriously, when the diagnosis cannot be clearly articulated. Issues associated with health professionals as gatekeepers to resources are raised, and also the potential for extended uncertainty to stigmatise the patient. Finally, the emotional impact of injury is discussed as an issue that is not often recognised.
Vague diagnostic labels attached to serious but invisible injury potentially reduce legitimate access to rehabilitation and the sick role. The socio-cultural context within which medicine is administered produces specific tensions in the clinical encounter. It is hypothesised that patients with uncertain diagnosis may be particularly at risk of the emergence of disability.