Feeding tube self-management experience of patients at home after discharge following esophageal cancer surgery

Table 1 Participant characteristics

Patient ID	Gender	Age (years)	Marital status	Education level	Occupations	Residence	Feeding tube types	Interview time (minutes)
P1	Male	63	Married	Middle school	Freelancing	Urban	Jejunostomy	27
P2	Female	56	Married	Middle school	Worker	Rural	Jejunostomy	32
P3	Female	72	Widowed	Elementary	Farmer	Rural	Jejunostomy	28
P4	Male	58	Married	Middle school	Administrator	Rural	Jejunostomy	35
P5	Male	68	Married	Elementary	Worker	Rural	Jejunostomy	44
P6	Female	61	Divorced	Middle school	Retirement	Rural	Jejunostomy	36
P7	Male	55	Married	Undergraduate	Administrator	Urban	Jejunostomy	42
P8	Male	46	Single	Undergraduate	Technical staff	Rural	Jejunostomy	30
P9	Female	67	Married	Junior college	Retirement	Urban	Nasoduodenal	40
P10	Male	47	Married	Middle school	Worker	Urban	Jejunostomy	45
P11	Male	55	Divorced	High school	Freelancing	Rural	Jejunostomy	31
P12	Female	64	Married	Elementary	Farmer	Rural	Nasoduodenal	32
P13	Female	66	Married	Middle school	Retirement	Urban	Nasoduodenal	27
P14	Female	72	Widowed	Elementary	Farmer	Rural	Nasoduodenal	34
P15	Male	56	Married	Junior college	Worker	Urban	Jejunostomy	39
P16	Male	70	Widowed	Elementary	Freelancing	Rural	Jejunostomy	41
P17	Male	65	Married	Middle school	Worker	Urban	Jejunostomy	43
P18	Male	59	Divorced	Elementary	Worker	Urban	Nasoduodenal	38

Table 2 Themes and sub-themes of the study

Theme	Sub-theme
Self-management dilemmas	Lack of access to information
	Lack of behavioral skills
	Lack of awareness
Disturbing experiences	Difficulties in the self-management process
	Psychological distress
	Difficulties in life
Factors that enhance self-management	Access to support
	Self-psychological regulation
	Summary of experience
	Initiative to seek help