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Treatment Burden for Older People with Multimorbidity: A Cross-Sectional Study in China

Liyuan Dou, Qiuling Jiang, Polly Duncan, Xiaoping Li

Background: There has been little research in China about treatment burden. Studies internationally have found high treatment burden is associated with number of long-term conditions, low Quality of Life (QoL) and poor medication adherence. The purpose of this study is to understand factors associated with high treatment burden for older people with multimorbidity in China.

Methods: Cross-sectional survey was conducted from February to May 2022. Through convenience sampling, 353 older people (≥ 60 years) with multimorbidity (≥ 2 long term conditions) admitted to hospital in Zhengzhou, China, were invited to complete a survey including sociodemographic characteristics, long-term conditions and the Chinese version of Multimorbidity Treatment Burden Questionnaire (C-MTBQ). Ordinal logistic regression was used to identify the factors associated with high treatment burden.

Results: 342 older people with multimorbidity participated (response rate 92.2%) among whom, the prevalence of no，low, medium and high treatment burden was 1.2% (4/342), 13.9% (44/342), 49.1% (168/342) and 36.8% (126/342), respectively. Ordinal logistic regression analysis found high treatment burden was associated with age, monthly household income, type of medical insurance and number of long-term conditions.

Conclusion: Most surveyed older people with multimorbidity experienced medium to high treatment burden. Interventions to reduce treatment burden for people with multimorbidity in China, should focus particularly on people at risk of higher treatment burden, namely older people with low income and high number of long-term conditions.