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

Authors

Rongzhen Zhao, Feifei Li, Haoran Zhu, Jinbao Li, Jiadong Zhang, Qinghua Wang

Published in

Scientific reports. Jul 13, 2026. Epub Jul 13, 2026.

Abstract

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.

PMID:
42443312
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 14 Jul 2026.

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