title: Treatment Burden and Chronic Illness: Who is at Most Risk?
abstract: 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.
  
  
  
  The aim of this study is to identify the characteristics of participants who are at most risk of treatment burden.
  
  
  
  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.
  
  
  
  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.
  
  
  
  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.
authors.affiliation: School of Allied Health (Public Health), Australian Catholic University, Banyo, QLD, Australia. Adem.Sav@acu.edu.au.|School of Human Services and Social Work, Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Meadowbrook, QLD, Australia. Adem.Sav@acu.edu.au.
authors.forename: Adem
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sav
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, The University of Queensland, Woolloongabba, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: Jennifer A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Whitty
authors.affiliation: School of Human Services and Social Work, Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Meadowbrook, QLD, Australia.|School of Pharmacy, Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Southport, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: Sara S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: McMillan
authors.affiliation: School of Human Services and Social Work, Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Meadowbrook, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kendall
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Southport, QLD, Australia.|Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Fiona
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Southport, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: Michelle A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: King
authors.affiliation: School of Human Services and Social Work, Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Meadowbrook, QLD, Australia.|Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Amanda J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Wheeler
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia; D017028:Caregivers; D002908:Chronic Disease; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D012306:Risk