Sick and Tired: Understanding and Managing Sleep Difficulties in ...
Sick and Tired: Understanding and Managing Sleep Difficulties in ...
Sick and Tired: Understanding and Managing Sleep Difficulties in ...
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Methods<br />
Participants were given a written <strong>in</strong>formation sheet <strong>and</strong> were offered verbal <strong>in</strong>formation<br />
about the study through presentations at support group meet<strong>in</strong>gs for people with FMS.<br />
Participants <strong>in</strong>terested <strong>in</strong> the study were asked to contact the researcher. Participants<br />
were advised that they did not have to be experienc<strong>in</strong>g sleep disturbance to take part <strong>in</strong><br />
the study, thus enabl<strong>in</strong>g the exploration of the effect of both good <strong>and</strong> poor sleep quality<br />
<strong>in</strong> FMS. Participants were <strong>in</strong>cluded if: 1) they had received a diagnosis of FMS by a<br />
cl<strong>in</strong>ician <strong>and</strong>; 2) were aged over 18 years. Participants were excluded if they were<br />
unable to speak or underst<strong>and</strong> English or if they had been diagnosed with an organic<br />
sleep disorder with an identified underly<strong>in</strong>g physical cause (such as sleep apnoea or<br />
restless legs syndrome). After confirm<strong>in</strong>g that the participants had received <strong>and</strong> read the<br />
<strong>in</strong>formation sheet, <strong>and</strong> had been given the opportunity to ask any questions they had<br />
about the study, a mutually convenient time was arranged to conduct the <strong>in</strong>terview.<br />
Participant Recruitment<br />
The IPA approach aims to identify the commonalities of people experienc<strong>in</strong>g a specific<br />
phenomenon <strong>and</strong> therefore participants are sampled to ensure that they can offer a<br />
mean<strong>in</strong>gful perspective on the phenomenon be<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>vestigated (Smith & Eatough,<br />
2007). For this study, participants were recruited through FMS support groups <strong>in</strong> the<br />
South-East of Engl<strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong> an attempt to achieve a relatively homogenous sample. The<br />
IPA approach advocates that small homogenous samples should be used <strong>in</strong> order to<br />
obta<strong>in</strong> a detailed underst<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>g of <strong>in</strong>dividuals‟ personal experiences <strong>and</strong> to ensure that<br />
<strong>in</strong>-depth analysis is feasible (Reid, Flowers, & Lark<strong>in</strong>, 2005). The <strong>in</strong>terview process<br />
was expla<strong>in</strong>ed to participants, provid<strong>in</strong>g them with the opportunity to ask further<br />
questions before they were asked for their permission to record the <strong>in</strong>terview us<strong>in</strong>g a<br />
digital voice recorder <strong>and</strong> to sign the consent form.<br />
Data Collection<br />
To provide a context for the data, background <strong>in</strong>formation was collected from the<br />
participants, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g their date of birth, details of their diagnosis, employment status<br />
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