Treatment burden and chronic illness: Who is at most risk?

Sav, Adem, Whitty, Jennifer A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5886-1933, McMillan, Sara S., Kendall, Elizabeth, Kelly, Fiona, King, Michelle A. and Wheeler, Amanda J. (2016) Treatment burden and chronic illness: Who is at most risk? The Patient, 9 (6). 559–569. ISSN 1178-1653

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Abstract

Background: There is a need to ascertain the type and level of treatment burden experienced by people with co-morbidities. This is important to identify the characteristics of participants who are at most risk of treatment burden.  Objective: The aim of this study is to identify the characteristics of participants who are at most risk of treatment burden.  Methods: This cross-sectional study was part of a larger project and recruitment was conducted across four Australian regions: rural, semi-rural and metropolitan. Participants were asked about their treatment burden using an adapted version of a measure, which included the following five dimensions: medication, time and administrative, lifestyle change, social life and financial burden.  Results: In total, 581 participants with various chronic health conditions reported a mean global treatment burden of 56.5 out of 150 (standard deviation = 34.5). Number of chronic conditions (β = .34, p < 0.01), age, (β = −.27, p < 0.01), the presence of an unpaid carer (β = .22, p < 0.001) and the presence of diabetes mellitus and other endocrine conditions (β = .13, p < 0.01) were significant predictors of overall treatment burden. For the five dimensions of treatment burden, social, medicine and administrative burden were predicted by the same cluster of variables: number of conditions, age, presence of an unpaid carer and diabetes. However, in addition to these variables, financial dimensions were also predicted by education level, ethnicity and health insurance. Educational level also influenced lifestyle burden.  Conclusion: A substantial proportion of community-dwelling adults with chronic conditions have considerable levels of treatment burden. Specifically, health professionals should provide greater focus on managing overall treatment burden for persons who are of young age, have an endocrine condition or an unpaid carer, or a combination of these factors.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	sdg 3 - good health and well-being ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/good_health_and_well_being
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Norwich Medical School
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Health Economics Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Respiratory and Airways Group Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Health Services and Primary Care Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Public Health and Health Services Research (former - to 2023)
Depositing User:	Pure Connector
Date Deposited:	11 May 2016 09:00
Last Modified:	07 Oct 2023 00:51
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/58633
DOI:	10.1007/s40271-016-0175-y

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