Exploring Bathing Difficulties in Women with Upper Extremity Injury: A Qualitative Study

Aim: To explore bathing difficulties experienced by women with upper extremity using in-depth interview.

Justification for the study: Bathing is considered one of the most important activities of daily living involving complex movements of the upper extremity. An injury to the upper extremity limits its movements, thus affecting the performance of bathing, impacting the overall well-being of an individual. The perception of gender affects and influences bathing difficulties with a certain level of discomfort, especially among women, which is not well captured. There is a limited study addressing bathing difficulties experienced by women due to upper extremity injuries, with no study conducted in the Indian context addressing the difficulties experienced by women with upper extremity injury. Therefore, it is important to explore the experiences of women with upper extremity injury to provide client-specific interventions and enhance overall well-being.

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Detailed description of procedure: The proposal is presented and approved by the Institutional Research Committee (IRC). Permission from the Medical Superintendent of Kasturba Hospital is obtained for the recruitment of participants. An interview guide is developed and validated by subject experts. Permission from the Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC) is obtained, and CTRI registration will be done. Sample screening and selection of participants will be done. An overall briefing of the study will be provided to the participants who fall within the eligibility criteria. A total of 10 to 12 participants will be recruited based on the eligibility criteria. A participant information sheet, followed by informed consent, will be obtained from the participants. The anonymity of the participants will be safeguarded by the researcher. The participants will be informed of the place and time of the interview based on their convenience, via email or telephone. An in-depth face-to-face semi-structured interview will be conducted with only the participant and the researcher in the Occupational Therapy Department in Kasturba Hospital, Manipal. The time taken for the interview will be 30-45 minutes and will be audio recorded for study purposes. The study will be concluded when no new information is obtained from the participants. The researcher will safeguard all data obtained, and any new information and study information will be available to the participant on inquiry.

Data Analysis: The data obtained from interviews will be transcribed verbatim in English or Malayalam or Hindi or Kannada, and translated to English. The transcripts will be read and re-read to understand, and then initial codes will be generated from the data obtained. The codes will then be grouped, giving rise to potential themes which will be reviewed, and the results will be reported with the themes obtained (Braun & Clarke, 2006).