Factors related to the treatment burden of patients with coronary heart disease: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND

Treatment burden is a significant barrier to patient adherence that may lead to deterioration of health.

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this study was to understand the treatment burden of Chinese patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) and its associations with demographic, capacity, and workload-related factors.

METHODS

We conducted an observational cross-sectional study. We recruited 396 patients with CHD in a tertiary hospital in Shandong Province, China. Self-report questionnaires were used to measure patients' sociodemographic information, clinical information, treatment burden, health literacy, illness perception, and chronic illness resources. Descriptive statistics and t-tests, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson's correlation analysis, and multiple linear regression analysis were used for data analysis.

RESULTS

A total of 396 participants were included, of whom 273 were male (68.9 %) and 123 were female (31.1 %). The mean age of the participants was 63.10 ± 9.75. The predictors for treatment burden included smoking, taking ≥ 6 kinds of medications/day, health literacy, illness perception, and chronic illness resources, which explained 50.9 % of the variance (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Our findings indicate an association between treatment burden and factors such as smoking, taking ≥ 6 kinds of medications/day, health literacy, illness perception, and chronic illness resource survey. Healthcare staff should develop targeted interventions based on relevant factors and optimize treatment strategies to improve patient adherence.