Healthcare needs, experiences and treatment burden in primary care patients with multimorbidity
An evaluation of process of care from patients' perspectives
Bibliographic Data
BACKGROUND: Patients with multimorbidity often experience treatment burden as a result of fragmented, specialist-driven healthcare. The 'family doctor team' is an emerging service model in China to address the increasing need for high-quality routine primary care. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore the extent to which treatment burden was associated with healthcare needs and patients' experiences. METHODS: Multisite surveys were conducted in primary care facilities in Guangdong province, southern China. Interviewer-administered questionnaires were used to collect data from patients (N = 2160) who had ≥2 clinically diagnosed long-term conditions (multimorbidity) and had ≥1 clinical encounter in the past 12 months since enrolment registration with the family doctor team. Patients' experiences and treatment burden were measured using a previously validated Chinese version of the Primary Care Assessment Tool (PCAT) and the Treatment Burden Questionnaire, respectively. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 61.4 years, and slightly over half were females. Patients who had a family doctor team as the primary source of care reported significantly higher PCAT scores (mean difference 7.2 points, p < .001) and lower treatment burden scores (mean difference -6.4 points, p < .001) when compared to those who often bypassed primary care. Greater healthcare needs were significantly correlated with increased treatment burden (β-coefficient 1.965, p < .001), whilst better patients' experiences were associated with lower treatment burden (β-coefficient -0.252, p < .001) after adjusting for confounders. CONCLUSION: The inverse association between patients' experiences and treatment burden supports the importance of primary care in managing patients with multimorbidity. PATIENT CONTRIBUTION: Primary care service users were involved in the instrument development and data collection
China · Environmental health · Family medicine · Health care · Interview · Population · Primary care · Primary health care · Chronic Disease Management Strategies · Healthcare Systems and Reforms · Medicine · Primary Care and Health Outcomes
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| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,5 |
| Citation span | 2022 - 2024 (3) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 6 |