Plain Language Summary
This study investigated how common treatment burden is and its impact on the quality of life of patients with multiple chronic diseases who take prescription medications and receive outpatient care at the University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Teaching Hospital. In this study, we surveyed 423 patients, reviewed their medical records, and asked them about the difficulties they faced in managing their treatments and their overall quality of life. The results showed that patients who experienced a higher treatment burden had lower quality of life compared to those with a lower treatment burden. Specifically, the patients who reported more challenges in managing their treatments had lower scores on measures of their overall well-being and quality of life. It is important to find a balance between providing necessary treatments and ensuring that patients can still enjoy a good quality of life.
Introduction
Multimorbidity refers to the co-occurrence of two or more chronic diseases in an individual. [
1] This condition is becoming more prevalent due to the increasing elderly population, which is a result of people living longer. [
2] Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are disproportionately affected by the burden of chronic diseases and contribute to more than three-quarters of deaths from chronic diseases. [
3] Multimorbidity is of particular concern in LMICs due to limited access to healthcare, low health literacy, and socioeconomic disparities. [
4,
5] In addition to the burden associated with the symptoms of the diseases, the rise in the prevalence of multimorbidity has brought the additional burden of treatment to patients [
6,
7]. Multimorbidity predisposes patients to complex medication regimens, polypharmacy, poor adherence, and medication-related adverse events. [
1] As a result, patients with multimorbidity face a higher treatment burden than those with only a single disease. [
8]
Treatment burden can be defined as “the workload of health care and its impact on patient functioning and well-being”. [
9] It encompasses a number of aspects of patient care such as literacy and understanding medical information, taking multiple and complex medication regimens, monitoring, interacting with individuals including healthcare professionals, exercise and dietary changes, self-monitoring, numeracy, and others [
6,
9‐
12]. Many patients living with chronic diseases report that sustaining the same level of commitment to managing their diseases for a long period of time is very difficult. [
7] As such, patients experiencing treatment burden will have significantly diminished health-related quality of life (HRQoL). [
6,
11] This comes as no surprise since patients experiencing treatment burden often feel overwhelmed with the amount of effort they have to put in managing their diseases. [
9]
Not all patients perceive treatment burden the same way. Patients with multimorbidity are at a higher risk of treatment burden [
10]. In addition, patients’ skills, cognitive and physical capabilities, the amount of social support they receive, their workload and ability to manage their workload, and financial status can influence how patients experience treatment burden. [
10,
11] Further, younger age, low health literacy, and little overlap in managing multiple diseases, contribute to risk of a higher treatment burden in patients with multimorbidity. [
8,
10]
According to a recent meta-analysis by Chowdhury et al., it was found that the pooled prevalence of multimorbidity worldwide stands at 37.2%. The analysis further indicated significant variations across income groups, with high-income countries having a prevalence of 38.6%, upper-middle income countries with 38.7%, and low-income countries with 32.1%. [
13] Furthermore, there is a wide variation in the magnitude of multimorbidity within LMICs. A scoping review found that the prevalence of multimorbidity in adults aged 18 years and above ranged from 3.2% to 67.8% [
14]. It also reported that the prevalence increases with advancing age. In Ethiopia, multimorbidity has become very prevalent. A study conducted in the current study setting reported that the prevalence of multimorbidity among patients with cardiovascular diseases was 44.6% [
15]. With such a high prevalence of multimorbidity, it is expected that the treatment burden and HRQoL of patients can be significantly affected. This is especially very important in a country with poor health literacy [
16] as studies show that individuals that have difficulties understanding health information are more likely to experience treatment burden. [
8]
Although the connection between multimorbidity and treatment burden has been reported elsewhere [
8], to the best of the authors’ knowledge and a literature search, the available literature on treatment burden and HRQoL in patients with multimorbidity in LMICs, especially in Ethiopia, is limited. Therefore, this study aims to fill the research gap in the existing literature on treatment burden and HRQoL in patients with multimorbidity in LMICs, especially focusing on Ethiopia, where a high burden of multimorbidity has been documented. [
15,
17] Thereof, the objective of this study was to investigate treatment burden and its relationship with HRQoL among patients with multimorbidity.
Discussion
The present study examined the treatment burden and HRQoL among patients with multimorbidity in a low-income country setting. As patients with multimorbidity are exposed to a number of medications to manage the diseases, this situation may lead to an overwhelming treatment burden on the patients. The current study showed this scenario as a high treatment burden was captured in the overall patient population. One of the impacts of multimorbidity and treatment burden is the decline in patients’ HRQoL. This trend was also observed in the present study as we observed a pattern of lower HRQoL in relation to a higher treatment burden.
Due to the limited number of studies available, it is challenging to put the current findings into perspective. The findings of the present study showed that the majority (77.8%) of patients with multimorbidity experience high treatment burden. In comparison, 26.6% of study participants reported a high treatment burden in the United Kingdom (UK) [
22]. The difference can be attributed to differences in age between the two studies and the distinct structures of the healthcare systems in each country. The patients in the current study were relatively younger (53 years old) than the UK study participants (74 years old) [
22]. Previous studies reported similar scenarios where younger patients tend to develop a higher treatment burden as compared to older patients [
22,
27]. Possible explanations for this phenomenon include the fact that younger patients are often employed and must juggle work, personal life, hospital visits, and taking multiple medications. The health care system of Ethiopia is significantly different than that of the UK, and this difference plays a pivotal role in patients’ treatment outcomes and HRQoL. In Ethiopia, patients need to go through various hurdles to access health care facilities. Most hospitals are further away from the rural part of Ethiopia and patients need to travel long distances to attend medical services. Furthermore, unlike the UK, where most medications are covered through the universal healthcare system called the National Health Service [
28], out of pocket is still the predominant way of covering medical expenses in Ethiopia [
29]. This situation ultimately exposes patients to financial hardship, making it difficult for them to afford medications [
29]. Current efforts are taken to provide universal health coverage through social health insurance, community-based health insurance, and private health insurance schemes. [
29] However, the financing of these schemes and coverage is still in the infancy stage [
29]. Another factor that may have contributed to a high treatment burden is the low health literacy in the present study setting, as poor health literacy was associated with increased treatment burden. [
8]
A significant negative correlation was found between the global MTBQ and the EQ-5D-index, in line with previous findings.[
22,
30] Significant differences were also observed in the mean EQ-5D-index and EQ-VAS score among the treatment burden strata. Post-hoc analyses demonstrated significant differences among the treatment burden groups. Additionally, patients who reported a high treatment burden also reported poorer HRQoL in all EQ-5D domains/dimensions. This implies that patients experiencing a high treatment burden also face challenges in fulfilling their daily routines and social responsibilities.
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to capture the relationship between treatment burden and HRQoL in Ethiopian patients with multimorbidity. Literature is also limited in the LMICs setting and this study will provide useful data in this part of the world. Additionally, the study had a sufficient sample size and used two validated tools to measure treatment burden and HRQoL. Nevertheless, the present study has some limitations. The study was conducted in a single setting targeting patients with chronic diseases. Also, the study used a cross-sectional study design and causal associations could not be established.
This study shows important information about treatment burden and health-related quality of life, and the interaction between these two factors. Previous studies have rarely assessed treatment burden and health-related quality of life in the low and middle-income settings. Hence, this study provides vital data to understand patient’s experience, and the need for the health system to balance treatment exposure and maintaining a good quality of life. However, the study is a single center cross-sectional study, and the findings may not be generalizable beyond the study setting; thus, further studies are needed to corroborate the current findings.
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