Table 1 Interview outline questions and tips

The essential issues will be:

 1. Tell me about your health

 2. What is important in terms of your health?

 3. What has your life been like since you were diagnosed with a hiatal hernia? Prompts: Tell me more about that, how did you feel, and what were your thoughts?

 4. How do you know when a treatment is working? How important is your recovery from the hiatal hernia to you? Prompts: What is the most important thing to you? What are your expectations?

 5. Other patients have talked about ‘returning to normal’. What does that mean to you? What do you care about the outcomes after surgery? What are you most concerned about after the operation? What information or content would you like to receive from your doctor after surgery? Prompts: Was the surgical procedure successful? How is the stomach able to recover? When can I resume normal eating?

 6. What makes you feel well (or better)?

Other questions, such as the following, may be valuable for guiding the interview:

Could you describe how you acquired the hiatal hernia?

Your stomach is disturbed, and how do you often treat this condition?

 - Work

 - Personal and social life

 - Feelings and mood

What was your most difficult time for you?

How are you feeling/ what are you thinking/ about your recovery?

How has your illness affected you?

Are there things you used to be able to perform that you no longer can?

Did you have any issues or anxieties regarding your hiatal hernia or recovery?