Health literacy, multimorbidity, and patient-perceived treatment burden in individuals with cardiovascular disease. A Danish population-based study
Objective:
The aim was to investigate the association between: 1) multimorbidity and high treatment burden 2) health literacy and high treatment burden, and 3) the interaction between multimorbidity and health literacy in relation to high treatment burden.
Methods:
We included respondents with cardiovascular disease who participated in a Danish population-based survey from 2017 (N=2,111). Logistic regression analyses were used to study associations.
Results:
The study showed that multimorbid individuals with cardiovascular disease were more likely to experience a high treatment burden than individuals with cardiovascular disease only (2+ additional conditions OR 4.16 (2.80-6.18)). Also, individuals with difficulties in understanding health information were more likely to report a high treatment burden than individuals who found it easy to understand information about health (OR 9.97 (6.23-15.95)). Finally, individuals with multimorbidity and difficulties in understanding health information had markedly higher odds of experiencing a high treatment burden.
Conclusion:
If individuals find it difficult to understand health information, there is a risk they might feel overwhelmed by the treatment.
Practice implications:
Healthcare professionals should be aware of health literacy challenges in planning medical treatment particularly for patients with both low health literacy levels and multimorbidity.
Udgivelsesform | Videnskabelige artikler |
År | 2019 |
Udgiver | Patient Education and Counseling |
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