Behind the Data: Psychology Students' Reflections on Engaging with Osteoporosis Patients

Identifying patient profiles and understanding illness experiences from patient perspectives can significantly enhance the quality of patient care. This study aimed to explore the potential impact of psychology students’ perceptions of patients, particularly in the context of their involvement in data collection for a research project. Additionally, this study seeks to elucidate the possible influence of value judgments on the research process. This study used a qualitative research design employing content analysis. Data were collected through face-to-face and telephone interviews with 20 participants. The interview protocol was developed based on expert consultation to ensure content validity. Qualitative data were analyzed using MAXQDA 2022 software to identify key themes and patterns. The analysis revealed three overarching themes: illness perception, social support, and barriers faced by patients. The findings indicated that patients demonstrated awareness of their illness and treatment processes, and expressed a need for various forms of support, including emotional, psychological, instrumental, informational, and companionship support. Patients generally report high levels of satisfaction with healthcare providers and institutions. However, they also encounter multiple barriers to treatment, such as issues related to healthcare access, environmental and physical constraints, economic challenges, and psychosocial factors. This study demonstrated that qualitative data obtained indirectly through interviews with participants who engaged with patients yielded results comparable to those obtained directly from patients in quantitative studies. This finding highlights the value of incorporating diverse data collection methods to gain a comprehensive understanding of patients’ experiences.