Abstract:

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine to what degree do individual perceptions, modifying factors, and the likelihood of action have on the lives and decision-making of people diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease(CLD) who reside in the non-endemic area of Southern California (U.S.A.). According to Ali et al. (2014), there is a need to further study the perceptions and desires of CLD patients. This is particularly true for non-endemic parts of the United States. Data were collected through in-person, semi-structured interviews of nine participants (N=9). Five themes emerged: (i) changes in health status, (ii) difficulty getting an accurate diagnosis, (iii) effect on lives, (iv) effectiveness of treatment modalities, and (v) prevention. While our findings largely affirmed the conclusions drawn from previously conducted studies in endemic parts of the country, we made some interesting discoveries which appeared to differ from the prevailing literature.