Abstract
Background
The increasing prevalence of multimorbidity among older people in Lithuania and other Central-Eastern European countries leads to a greater patient treatment burden and puts additional pressure on healthcare services.
Objectives
This study aimed to validate the Lithuanian version of the Multimorbidity Treatment Burden Questionnaire (MTBQ).
Methods
The Lithuanian version of the MTBQ was tested (2021-2022) with 789 patients from seven Lithuanian primary care centres who had two or more long-term conditions. The questionnaire translation’s reliability, validity and dimensionality of the were assessed with Spearman’s rank correlation, Cronbach’s alpha, and factor reduction analysis. Treatment burden and its associations with sociodemographic and other indicators were analysed.
Results
Lithuanian version of MTBQ had good internal reliability (Cronbach’s alpha 0.711), validity, factor reduction applicability, and interpretability. The MTBQ scores of the questionnaire had a negative association with the quality-of-life scale (r=-0.327, 95% CI [-0.389, −0.264]) and positive associations with the self-rated health scores (r = 0.230, 95% CI [0.163, 0.297]) and with the number of comorbidities (r = 0.164, 95% CI [0.097, 0.233]). Distribution of treatment burden was identified (none (19,4%), low (46,6%), medium (25%), high (9%)). High treatment burden was found to be associated with having five or more long-term diseases, taking five or more medications, having anxiety or depression and living in a rural area.
Conclusion
The study’s findings show that the MTBQ is applicable in assessing the treatment burden of multimorbid patients in Lithuania. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that Lithuanian patients with multimorbidity have average treatment burden scores similar to or higher than participants in previous MTBQ validation studies.
KEY MESSAGES
• The Lithuanian version of MTBQ features good content validity, internal reliability, and construct validity, and is suitable for assessing treatment burden of patients with multimorbidity in Lithuania.
• The study demonstrated that Lithuanian patients with multimorbidity had average treatment burden scores similar to or higher than participants in previous MTBQ validation studies.
The increasing prevalence of multimorbidity among older people in Lithuania and other Central-Eastern European countries leads to a greater patient treatment burden and puts additional pressure on healthcare services.
Objectives
This study aimed to validate the Lithuanian version of the Multimorbidity Treatment Burden Questionnaire (MTBQ).
Methods
The Lithuanian version of the MTBQ was tested (2021-2022) with 789 patients from seven Lithuanian primary care centres who had two or more long-term conditions. The questionnaire translation’s reliability, validity and dimensionality of the were assessed with Spearman’s rank correlation, Cronbach’s alpha, and factor reduction analysis. Treatment burden and its associations with sociodemographic and other indicators were analysed.
Results
Lithuanian version of MTBQ had good internal reliability (Cronbach’s alpha 0.711), validity, factor reduction applicability, and interpretability. The MTBQ scores of the questionnaire had a negative association with the quality-of-life scale (r=-0.327, 95% CI [-0.389, −0.264]) and positive associations with the self-rated health scores (r = 0.230, 95% CI [0.163, 0.297]) and with the number of comorbidities (r = 0.164, 95% CI [0.097, 0.233]). Distribution of treatment burden was identified (none (19,4%), low (46,6%), medium (25%), high (9%)). High treatment burden was found to be associated with having five or more long-term diseases, taking five or more medications, having anxiety or depression and living in a rural area.
Conclusion
The study’s findings show that the MTBQ is applicable in assessing the treatment burden of multimorbid patients in Lithuania. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that Lithuanian patients with multimorbidity have average treatment burden scores similar to or higher than participants in previous MTBQ validation studies.
KEY MESSAGES
• The Lithuanian version of MTBQ features good content validity, internal reliability, and construct validity, and is suitable for assessing treatment burden of patients with multimorbidity in Lithuania.
• The study demonstrated that Lithuanian patients with multimorbidity had average treatment burden scores similar to or higher than participants in previous MTBQ validation studies.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 2284257 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | European Journal of General Practice |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Early online date | 27 Nov 2023 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 27 Nov 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The study was funded from 2014–2020 by the European Union Fund Investment Action Program (p. no. 08.4.2-ESFA-K-616-01-0003) as part of the TELELISPA project. The authors thank the patient and public involvement group for their time and participation, as well as the colleagues from our partnering primary healthcare facilities for their valuable contributions.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Keywords
- multimorbidity
- Treatment burden
- MTBQ
- Validation
- Primary health care
- Lithuania