Table 3.

Summary of major themes generated from patient interviews in the US and Denmark

Concept	Examples US [22]	Examples Denmark (present study)
Daily activities	Walking, sitting	Restricted ability for exercising
Symptoms due to HS	Fatigue, pain	Tired because of HS, fatigued because of HS, pain because of HS
Emotional consequences	Depression, anger	Depression because of HS, fear because of HS, suicidal thoughts because of HS
Psychosocial consequences	Isolation from others	Isolation because of HS, nervous to go out to meet other people because of HS, avoidance of social contact because of HS
Restricted clothing choices	Clothing choices to avoid flare-ups	HS impact on clothing (to avoid flare-ups and to hide the disease)
Coping	Social coping	Coping with HS
Sexual functioning	Embarrassment, pain during sex	HS impact on sexuality, embarrassed because of HS
Work/economic consequences	Financial burden of HS management and treatment	HS impact on job situation in general, HS impact on getting hired for a job, monetary cost of disease
Interactions with medical personnel	Inaccessibility to medical professionals	The doctor's knowledge of HS, influence/participatory on own treatment
Symptoms due to treatment	Treatment side effects	Side effects of treatment
Concentration issues	Trouble concentrating at work	Ability to study with HS flares