Additional illustrative quotes supporting themes and subthemes
| Theme | Illustrative quotes |
| 1.OA impacts diabetes control | |
| ‘I watch what I eat, and I exercise. And the reason why it [blood sugar] had gone up before was because my arthritis was bothering me, and they weren't sure what was going on, and then they found out that I had arthritis…’ PAREP-402 ‘The side effect of the arthritis is that I haven’t been able to exercise as much to control the diabetes’. PAREP-405 | |
| 2.The prominence of OA | |
| ‘But it really limits what I can do for work. So, I can’t stand for a long period of time, I can’t walk for a long period of time, and I can’t lift’. PAREP-408 ‘It’s becoming worse and worse. I don’t have the strength on my knees. I cannot climb up stairs, and it’s especially difficult to climb down the stairs to the basement and I have to put two feet on one step, one after the other. And then I lost balance very easily, so I have to grab on the stair rail very firmly. And all these sorts of mobility issues have been because of my knee pain’. PEFP-104 ‘I would love to be able to do more. I would love to be able to wake up in the morning and not have to scream, trying to get my legs to move. I would love to just be able to wake up and go. I had to retire at (early 60s)because I couldn’t do my job’. PAREP-414 | |
| 3.Minimisation of OA by health professionals | |
| a. OA assessment and management minimised by healthcare providers | ‘I guess they’re completely focused on the diabetes, although she does know that … I’ve had major falls, I use a cane now and I have a walker, and my balance isn’t all that good. But no, she [physician] doesn’t pay as much attention to that as she does with my [diabetes control] numbers…’ PAREP-410 ‘She [family doctor] gave me the feeling there was nothing that could be done and getting that same reaction from the orthopaedic surgeon, I thought, well, I guess she’s right.’ PAREP-405 |
| b. Personal responsibility for OA care | ‘I’ve also used Glucosamine for a lot of years. A lot of people say it doesn’t work, but boy, every once in a while, I would say, well, maybe it doesn’t work so I’d wean myself off it, and boy, it wasn’t long before I would go back on it. It obviously does something for me’. PAREP-410 ‘I’ve learnt it on my own from reading and believe it or not YouTube videos. I asked my doctor, my rheumatologist about it. I said this is what I want to do. And he said okay, as long as you think it’s good for you and you don’t hurt yourself. But no one has discussed specific exercises I should be doing or how I should be doing, which I would really like’. PAREP-407 |
| c. Navigating siloed chronic disease care | ’I thought everybody had pain. I didn’t know any better. And then they found out I have fibromyalgia in addition. So, trying to find something that would help with everything has become sort of a test.‘ PAREP-409 ’You know, sometimes I wish I wasn’t playing doctor myself so much.’ PERP-102 |
OA, osteoarthritis.