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The impact of marital relationship on the rehabilitation process in a group of women with long-term musculoskeletal disorders

Department of Family Medicine, Umeå University, S-90185 Umeå, Sweden, Correspondence address: Katarina Hamberg, MD Department of Family Medicine Umeå University SE-90187 Umeå Sweden Tel: Sweden +46 90 158342 Fax: Sweden +46 90 176883

Eva Johansson

Department of Family Medicine, Umeå University, S-90185 Umeå, Sweden

Gerd Lindgren

Department of Sociology, Umeå University, S-901 87 Umeå, Sweden

Göran Westman

Department of Family Medicine, Umeå University, S-90185 Umeå, Sweden

This qualitative study investigated problems in the rehabilitation of women with long-term, musculoskeletal pain disorders. Data were collected by repeated semi-structured interviews and doctor-patient encounters during two years, and analysed in a gender perspective. The "marriage contract", i.e. the pattern of division of duties and power structure within the marital relationship, was of obvious importance to the implementation of rehabilitation measures. We explored situations where the rehabilitation measures disagreed with the terms and patterns in the "marriage contract". The participants' ways of coping with the contract in these delicate situations could be described as three type strategies; accepting the terms, negotiating for new terms, and breaking the contract. The crucial impact of the "marriage contract" and the type strategies on the rehabilitation process are exemplified.

Key Words: women's health • marital relationship • undefined disorders • musculoskeletal pain • rehabilitation • gender • qualitative research.

Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, Vol. 25, No. 1, 17-25 (1997)
DOI: 10.1177/140349489702500105


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