Patient-experienced burden of treatment in patients with multimorbidity – A systematic review of qualitative data

Michael Rosbach and John Sahl Andersen

PLOS ONE, 2017, vol. 12, issue 6, 1-18

Abstract: Objective: To synthesize existing qualitative literature on patient-experienced burden of treatment in multimorbid patients. Methods: A literature search identified available qualitative studies on the topic of burden of treatment in multimorbidity and meta-ethnography was applied as method. The authors’ original findings were preserved, but also synthesized to new interpretations to investigate the concept of the burden of treatment using the Cumulative Complexity Model. Results: Nine qualitative studies were identified. The majority of the 1367 participants from 34 different countries were multimorbid. The treatment burden components, experienced by patients, were identified for each study. The components financial burden, lack of knowledge, diet and exercise, medication burden and frequent healthcare reminding patients of their health problem were found to attract additional attention from the multimorbid patients. In studies conducted in the US and Australia the financial burden and the time and travel burden were found most straining to patients with deprived socioeconomic status. Conclusions: Healthcare providers need to increase the focus on minimizing multimorbid patients’ burden of treatment. Findings in this review suggest that the weight of the burden needs to be established in the individual patient and components of the burden must be identified.

Date: 2017
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0179916

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0179916

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