Living with, managing and minimising treatment burden in long term conditions: a systematic review of qualitative research.

ABSTRACT:

Background

'Treatment burden', defined as both the workload and impact of treatment regimens on function and well-being, has been associated with poor adherence and unfavourable outcomes. Previous research focused on treatment workload but our understanding of treatment impact is limited. This research aimed to systematically review qualitative research to identify: 1) what are the treatment generated disruptions experienced by patients across all chronic conditions and treatments? 2) what strategies do patients employ to minimise these treatment generated disruptions?

Methods and findings

The search strategy centred on: treatment burden and qualitative methods. Medline, CINAHL, Embase, and PsychINFO were searched electronically from inception to Dec 2013. No language limita

SUBMITTER: Demain S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4449201 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature