PATIENTS STORIES - SCIENCE, CLINICAL FACTS OR FAIRY-TALES

Objective - To explore potentials and attributes of the qualitative re search interview as a tool for acquiring knowledge about illness. Desi gn - A qualitative approach, comparing knowledge about consultations o riginating from 1) data from interviews with immigrant female patients , and 2) evaluative data from registration forms from the doctors. Set ting and Subjects - 24 Pakistani female patients, recruited from the a ppointment list at a primary health care centre in central Oslo were i nterviewed in their homes. Evaluation forms were filled in by the ten physicians consulted.Main outcome measures - Illness knowledge derived from different communicative contexts. Contextual prerequisites sugge st potential roads to the inquiry of illness applicable in the clinica l context. Case stories - Patients' illness perspectives and resources were probably encouraged in the interview by means of discourse under lining the women's resources. This position may have emerged because t he women were actually consulted by the interviewer. Dialogues activel y seeking out the other person's illness perspective, as recommended i n the qualitative interview, seem to encourage adequate exchange of me dical information. Conclusion/Implications - Pursuing and modifying st rategies from the qualitative interview for exploration of illness may contribute to clinical facts as well as scientific knowledge concerni ng illness.