Abstract

LEDON LLANES, Loraine; AGRAMONTE MACHADO, Adriana; FABRE REDONDO, Bárbara  and  HERNANDEZ RODRIGUEZ, José. Impact of acromegaly and the Cushing's syndrome, a prospect experience. Rev Cubana Endocrinol [online]. 2011, vol.22, n.2, pp. 144-166. ISSN 1561-2953.

Objective: to describe the impact of acromegaly and the Cushing's syndrome on health, from the prospective of the persons presenting these diseases. Methods: a descriptive, cross-sectional design and qualitative methodology were used. Twelve women and 8 men with body changes caused by these diseases, seen in the National Institute of Endocrinology in La Habana, Cuba, participated in this study. Interviews in depth were applied as well as psychological projective techniques. The material collected was entirely transcribed, submitted to codification, interpretation and triangulation. Ethical features were taken into account. Results: appeared five interconnected categories supporting the impact of such diseases on health: reproduction of its manifestations in terms of symptom, the paths to accede to health services, the diagnosis's communication, the disease nature and its assessment as a life experience. Conclusions: from the subject's perspective, acromegaly and Cushing's syndrome had a significant impact on health as result of: its psychic and body manifestations, the characteristics of care process and diagnosis. Genre, disease peculiarities and the lack of diffusion of information on these diseases influenced on the health decisions. The meaning of body was devalued and the disease was structured as a process leading to global manifestations in its lives.

Keywords : Disease's impact; genre; body; health-disease process; meanings.

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