Reconstructing a meaning of pain: older Korean American women's experiences with the pain of osteoarthritis.

The purpose of this grounded theory study was to gain a deeper understanding of older Korean American women's experiences of chronic osteoarthritic pain. The data included a set of 3 interviews with 7 women over age 60, field notes, observations, memos, and the literature about the chronic pain of osteoarthritis. Through constant comparative analysis and coding typical of grounded theory, a five-stage process emerged inductively from the data. The core variable, Reconstructing a Meaning of Pain, included the concepts of the process in the grounded theory through which the women learned to manage and tolerate the pain. During this process, the women came to perceive their pain as a component of aging rather than as a symptom of disease.