Cardiomyopathy: Exploring cardiologists’ and patients’ lived experiences of diagnosis

Taylor, J ORCID: 0009-0008-1937-7445 (2026) Cardiomyopathy: Exploring cardiologists’ and patients’ lived experiences of diagnosis. Doctoral thesis, Liverpool John Moores University.

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Abstract

Background:
Cardiomyopathies are a group of chronic cardiac conditions affecting the structure and/or pumping efficiency of the heart muscle, affecting a significant proportion of adults worldwide. Cardiomyopathy (CM) research has predominantly focused on clinical pathways and biomedical outcomes, with limited attention given to the lived experience of the diagnostic journey. This study addresses this gap by exploring how CM diagnosis is experienced by both adult patients and cardiologists.

Aim:
To explore patients’ and cardiologists’ lived experiences of cardiomyopathy diagnosis.

Method:
Full NHS ethical approval was obtained for all phases of this research. An interpretivist, phenomenological design was adopted. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with consultant cardiologists and newly diagnosed adult CM patients from NHS trusts in England. Cardiologists were recruited directly or via their NHS Trusts. A supplementary quantitative participant identification tool supported a purposive, self-selecting sample of patients to interview. Data were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. A final integrative phase examined convergence and divergence across perspectives.

Results:
Diagnosis was experienced as a complex, multi-layered process shaped by systemic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal factors. Cardiologists described tensions between ideal and real-world practice, highlighting systemic constraints, diagnostic uncertainty, and emotional labour. Patients experienced diagnosis as disruptive, characterised by loss, identity renegotiation, and an ongoing search for certainty. Across both groups, communication, uncertainty, and power dynamics emerged as central, with notable differences in how diagnosis was understood and experienced.

Conclusions:
CM diagnosis extends beyond a single clinical event and can instead be understood as a psychologically and relationally significant process. By integrating cardiologist and patient perspectives, this study provides a novel, multi-perspective account of diagnosis, highlighting both shared challenges and critical divergences in meaning-making.

Implications:
Findings extend existing cardiology and health psychology literature by viewing diagnosis as an experiential process. They support the development of more psychologically informed, person-centred diagnostic practices, improved communication, and greater integration of psychological support and third-sector services within cardiology care pathways.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Cardiomyopathy; Diagnosis; Shared decision-making; Emotional labour; Lived Experience; Identity; Clinical communication; Diagnostic uncertainty; Interpretative phenomenological analysis
Subjects:	R Medicine > R Medicine (General) R Medicine > RT Nursing
Divisions:	Nursing, Public and Allied Health
Date of acceptance:	17 September 2026
Date of first compliant Open Access:	1 October 2026
Date Deposited:	01 Oct 2026 13:22
Last Modified:	01 Oct 2026 13:22
DOI or ID number:	10.24377/LJMU.t.00029543
Supervisors:	Jones, I, Lotto, R and Watson, P
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/29543

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