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Understanding osteoporosis and fractures: an introduction to the use of qualitative research

  • Trauma Surgery
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Abstract

Background

Qualitative research has been recognized in recent years as a field of inquiry used to understand people’s beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, culture or lifestyle. While quantitative results are challenging to apply in everyday practice, the qualitative paradigm can be useful to fill in a research context that is poorly understood or ill-defined. It can provide an in-depth study of interactions, a way to incorporate context, and a means to hear the voices of participants. Understanding experiences, motivation, and beliefs can have a profound effect on the interpretation of quantitative research and generating hypotheses. In this paper, we will review different qualitative approaches that healthcare providers and researchers may find useful to implement in future study designs, specifically in the context of osteoporosis and fracture.

Methods

We will provide insight into the qualitative paradigm gained from the osteoporosis literature on fractures using examples from the database Scopus. Five prominent qualitative techniques (narratives, phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography, and case study) can be used to generate meanings of the social and clinical world.

Discussion and conclusion

We have highlighted how these strategies are implemented in qualitative research on osteoporosis and fractures and are anchored to specific methodological practices. We focus on studies that explore patient psychosocial experiences of diagnosis and treatment, cultural boundaries, and interprofessional communication. After reviewing the research, we believe that action research, that is not frequently used, could also effectively be used by many professions to improve programs and policies affecting those dealing with osteoporosis issues.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. St. Michael’s Hospital, 55-8 Queen Street East, Toronto, ON, Canada

    E. Schemitsch

  2. Mobility Program Clinical Research Unit, The Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael’s Hospital, 30 Bond Street (193 Yonge Street, 6th Floor), Toronto, ON, M5B 1W8, Canada

    J. E. M. Sale & D. Beaton

  3. The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada

    K. Warmington & A. V. Kulkarni

  4. Center for Innovation in Interprofessional Education, University of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    S. Reeves

  5. Institute of Medical Science, St. Michael’s Hospital, University of Toronto, 30 Bond, Street (193 Yonge Street, 6th Floor), Toronto, ON, M5B 1W8, Canada

    A. Hoang-Kim

  6. Learning Institute, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada

    K. Warmington

Authors
  1. A. Hoang-Kim
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  2. E. Schemitsch
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  3. J. E. M. Sale
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  4. D. Beaton
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  5. K. Warmington
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  6. A. V. Kulkarni
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  7. S. Reeves
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. Hoang-Kim.

Appendices

Appendix 1: Further reading materials on qualitative research

1. Denzin N, Lincoln Y (2000) Introduction: the discipline and practice of qualitative research in handbook of qualitative research, 2nd edn. Sage Publications, London

2. Pope C, Mays N (1995) Qualitative research: reaching the parts other methods cannot reach: an introduction to qualitative methods in health and health services research. BMJ 311:42–45

3. Onwuegbuzie A, Leech N (2005) Taking the ‘Q’ out of research: teaching research methodology courses without the divide between quantitative and qualitative paradigms. Qual Quant 39:267–296

4. Sandelowski M (1993) Theory unmasked: the uses and guises of theory in qualitative research. Res Nurs Health 213:218

5. Seidman IE (1991) Interviewing as qualitative research. Teachers College Press, New York

6. Hammersley M, Atkinson P (1983) Recording and organizing data in ethnography. Routledge, London

7. Turner BA (1981) Some practical aspects of qualitative data analysis. Qual Quant 15:225–247

8. Kuper A, Reeves S, Levinson W (2008) Qualitative research: an introduction to reading and appraising qualitative research. BMJ 337:a288

Appendix 2: Search strategy and number of articles screened and included in the present study

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Hoang-Kim, A., Schemitsch, E., Sale, J.E.M. et al. Understanding osteoporosis and fractures: an introduction to the use of qualitative research. Arch Orthop Trauma Surg 134, 207–217 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00402-013-1799-1

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