Table 4. 2nd and 3rd order interpretations of research question B and C.
| Research questions | 2nd order interpretations (authors’ interpretations) |
|---|---|
| Question B: Components of BoT attracting additional attention from patients with multimorbidi-ty |
- Financial burden, lack of knowledge and the medication burden were the components found to be mentioned most often by patients[32] - Diet and exercise and frequent healthcare reminding patients of their health problem were ranked by patients as the most burdensome components[31] - Financial burden was most problematic for patients from Australia and low-income patients from the US[25, 30, 32] - Time and travel burden was particularly straining for patients living in remote locations[25] - The BoT was most straining when consequences of the treatment were not immediately visible for patients[24, 30] - Patients performed self-care tasks for conditions, in which they had an emotional investment, at the expense of other tasks[32] |
| Question C: Conceptuali-zation of burden of treatment in patients with multimorbidi-ty |
- The BoT is described as being a multidimensional concept, with cyclical interrelated components[25, 27] - The BoT and the job of self-management was “hard work” for patients[27–30] - The work performed by the patients could be explained by the Normalization Process Theory[28–30] - The BoT consists of objective factors and the subjective experience[25] - The capacity of the patients is essential to their ability to manage the treatment burdens[24, 27, 28, 30] |
| 3rd order interpretations (synthesis) | |
| Overarching synthesis | - The BoT is a complex concept consisting of many different components, interacting with each other - The size of the experienced BoT is associated with the workload of demands, the capacity and the context - Socioeconomic deprived patients seemed to be more affected by certain burdens, especially the financial and time and travel burden - Patients seem to prioritize and synchronize demands to diminish the workload of the BoT - Included studies show how patients’ capacity is associated with their experienced BoT - Patients mobilize and coordinate resources to improve their ability to manage the BoT. - Routinizing the treatment work into daily life might be a way for patients to make workload and capacity fit together |