The challenges of self-management among patients with recurrent hypertriglyceridemic acute pancreatitis: a qualitative study

In China, the incidence of hypertriglyceridemic acute pancreatitis (HTG-AP) has increased steadily in recent years, making it the second leading cause of acute pancreatitis. Compared with other types of pancreatitis, including biliary and alcoholic pancreatitis, HTG-AP is associated with greater disease severity and higher mortality. Consequently, preventing the recurrence of HTG-AP has become a major clinical priority. Effective home-based self-management plays a critical role in reducing the risk of recurrence. However, the self-management challenges, real-life experiences and support needs of patients with recurrent HTG-AP remain poorly understood. Therefore, this study aimed to explore these issues and address the existing research gap. To explore the self-management challenges and support needs of patients with recurrent HTG-AP, thereby providing a reference basis for developing self-management intervention programmes tailored to patients’ actual needs. This descriptive phenomenological study employed purposive sampling to recruit 25 patients with recurrent HTG-AP from a tertiary hospital in Shandong Province, China. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, analyzed using Colaizzi’s seven-step method, and reported in accordance with the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research guidelines. Five major themes emerged from the analysis: (1) Inadequate disease awareness; (2) Challenges in behavioural management; (3) Difficulties in psychological adaptation; (4) Constraints of the support system; (5) Unmet Self-management needs. This study identified the specific challenges and needs experienced by patients with HTG-AP during home-based self-management. The findings may offer valuable insights for the development of targeted clinical support strategies and individualised self-management approaches, and may inform future intervention research aimed at enhancing self-management abilities among patients with HTG-AP.