Table 2.
Thematic analysis of the components of the Common-Sense Model of Self-Regulation framework
| Themes | Examples of citations |
| Identity, n=180 (100%) | |
| Strong identity, n=56 (31%) | ‘I have a bladder infection…I have to pee all the time…I also had a UTI last summer…’ ‘I rubbed my eye and now it is red and there is pus… it is an eye infection…I know it goes away, as I have had it before…’ ‘My right big toe is swollen, the area next to the nail is red and infected, I can press pus out…’ |
| Medium identity, n=90 (50%) | ‘I have had genital herpes many times before, but it looks different…maybe it is just a yeast infection…’ ‘…sudden pain after I sneezed…I think I might have punctured a lung or bruised a rib…’ ‘I have a fever and my throat hurts…I think I’m sick…it’s usually a throat infection…’ |
| Weak identity, n=34 (19%) | ‘I suddenly got a severe pain in the left, lower side of my abdomen…I have never tried anything like it before…I cannot figure out why I am in so much pain…’ ‘I have had two attacks of chest pain and cold sweats…I do not usually feel like this…does not feel like pain that I have tried before…I just want to know why…’ ‘I feel really bad; have had a fever for 3–4 days and I’m coughing a lot. Yesterday, I had the shakes and I threw up’ |
| Timeline, n=180 (100%) | |
| <5 hours, n=52 (29%) | ‘…I just fell and cut my forehead and it is bleeding…’ |
| 5–24 hours, n=44 (24%) | …I started feeling sick this morning, but I still decided to go to work |
| >24 hours, n=84 (47%) | …it’s been going on for a few days now… |
| Cause, n=132 (73%) | |
| Clear cause, n=90 (50%) | ‘I fell about eight steps down a staircase and hit my shoulder…’ ‘When I feel like this, it is usually tonsillitis…’ ‘After skating…pain in my leg… muscle strain seems very logical…’ |
| Unclear cause, n=42 (23%) | ‘I think it could be a mixture of stress and bacteria…’ ‘It is not an allergy…my immune system might be a bit affected because I have been travelling a lot…’ ‘It looks like hives, but I do not have any allergies…’ |
| No cause, n=48 (27%) | |
| Cure/control, n=138 (77%) | |
| Clear solution for cure/control, n=42 (23%) | ‘I want to go to the hospital and get stitches…’ ‘I have tried it before; when I got penicillin…I am going to try to convince you to give it me again…’ ‘I have spoken to my husband, who is a doctor, and he believes I need to be seen by an eye specialist…’ |
| Unclear solution for cure/control, n=96 (53%) | ‘I have gotten painkillers from the dentist, but they are not helping; can I take Panodil as well?’ ‘I tried getting in contact with my GP, but no one is picking up the phone…’ ‘Do I have to do anything about it tonight or can it wait until I call my GP tomorrow?’ |
| No solution for cure/control, n=42 (23%) | |
| Consequence, n=67 (37%) | |
| High consequence, n=36 (20%) | ‘I am afraid it could be a blood clot, my mother had that and she lost her entire leg…’ ‘I am pregnant, can it affect the baby?’ ‘I read on Google, that it could be cancer…’ |
| Low consequence, n=31 (17%) | ‘I cannot sleep or eat anything, because of the pain…’ ‘Maybe I cannot go out riding tomorrow…’ ‘I have to travel for work tomorrow…’ |
| No consequence, n=113 (63%) | |
GP, general practitioner; UTI, urinary tract infection.