The experience of psoriatic arthritis patients receiving biological treatment : an interpretative phenomenological analysis
The recent development of biological therapies has revolutionized medical treatment for psoriatic arthritis. To date, research studies have focused on the treatment effects of biologics from a quantitative perspective using generic quality of life measures. An understanding of how treatment with biologics is experienced in the lives of psoriatic patients themselves therefore remains lacking. This study investigated the lived experience of psoriatic arthritis patients receiving biological therapy by employing Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to access this experience. Analysis of the data highlighted that receiving biologics for psoriatic arthritis was experienced as life-changing, but also required participants to make sense of the many unknowns surrounding treatment in regard to future effectiveness and long-term side effects of biologics. Participants experienced a biomedical focus on disease and treatment effects alone as not taking into account the significant psychological impact that having psoriatic arthritis and being treated with biologics can have on sufferers’ lives. Three master themes were identified: new lease of life, living with the fear of the unknown, and the importance of seeing the disease and the person. It is argued that this research extends the current knowledge base in counselling psychology on the psychological aspects of skin conditions such as psoriasis to what it is like to have both psoriasis and arthritis, whilst also being relevant to counselling psychologists working with psychological aspects of medical conditions, which is proposed to hold a promising future for the field.
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