SynthesisBMC medical research methodology2013
Qualitative systematic reviews of treatment burden in stroke, heart failure and diabetes - methodological challenges and solutions.
Synthesis in BMC medical research methodology, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 42 papers, 13 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
42 citing papers in PubMed, 13 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 89 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Supporting translation of research evidence into practice-the use of Normalisation Process Theory to assess and inform implementation within randomised controlled trials: a systematic review.Implementation science : IS · 2023Pooled it
- Governance of Intersectoral Collaborations for Population Health and to Reduce Health Inequalities in High-Income Countries: A Complexity-Informed Systematic Review.International journal of health policy and management · 2022Pooled it
- Do chronic heart failure symptoms interact with burden of treatment? Qualitative literature systematic review.BMJ open · 2021Pooled it
- A systematic literature review of the assessment of treatment burden experienced by patients and their caregivers.BMC geriatrics · 2019Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Development of a Conceptual Map of Negative Consequences for Patients of Overuse of Medical Tests and Treatments.JAMA internal medicine · 2018Pooled it
- Work of being an adult patient with chronic kidney disease: a systematic review of qualitative studies.BMJ open · 2018Pooled it
- Patient-experienced burden of treatment in patients with multimorbidity - A systematic review of qualitative data.PloS one · 2017Pooled it
- Patient capacity and constraints in the experience of chronic disease: a qualitative systematic review and thematic synthesis.BMC family practice · 2016Pooled it
- Challenges of self-management when living with multiple chronic conditions: systematic review of the qualitative literature.Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2014Pooled it
- Uncovering treatment burden as a key concept for stroke care: a systematic review of qualitative research.PLoS medicine · 2013Pooled it
- Trial
- Exploring barriers to and facilitators of adaptation in family caregivers of stroke survivors: a qualitative study.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Patients' Experiences of Treatment Burden After Bariatric Surgery-An Exploratory Study of Sex- and Gender Differences.Obesity surgery · 2025Review
- Article
- Managing the work of living with heart failure: a qualitative study using the cumulative complexity model from Southeastern Minnesota.BMJ open · 2024Article
- Treatment burden and regimen fatigue among patients with HIV and diabetes attending clinics of Tikur Anbessa specialized hospital.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Trajectories of Treatment Burden Among Primary Care Patients with Long-Term Conditions in Southern China: A Latent Class Growth Analysis.Risk management and healthcare policy · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issuedBatty, David G [corrected to Batty, G David]
Authors and funding
14 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundTreatment burden can be defined as the self-care practices that patients with chronic illness must perform to respond to the requirements of their healthcare providers, as well as the impact that these practices have on patient functioning and well being. Increasing levels of treatment burden may lead to suboptimal adherence and negative outcomes. Systematic review of the qualitative literature is a useful method for exploring the patient experience of care, in this case the experience of treatment burden. There is no consensus on methods for qualitative systematic review. This paper describes the methodology used for qualitative systematic reviews of the treatment burdens identified in three different common chronic conditions, using stroke as our exemplar.
methodsQualitative studies in peer reviewed journals seeking to understand the patient experience of stroke management were sought. Limitations of English language and year of publication 2000 onwards were set. An exhaustive search strategy was employed, consisting of a scoping search, database searches (Scopus, CINAHL, Embase, Medline & PsycINFO) and reference, footnote and citation searching. Papers were screened, data extracted, quality appraised and analysed by two individuals, with a third party for disagreements. Data analysis was carried out using a coding framework underpinned by Normalization Process Theory (NPT).
resultsA total of 4364 papers were identified, 54 were included in the review. Of these, 51 (94%) were retrieved from our database search. Methodological issues included: creating an appropriate search strategy; investigating a topic not previously conceptualised; sorting through irrelevant data within papers; the quality appraisal of qualitative research; and the use of NPT as a novel method of data analysis, shown to be a useful method for the purposes of this review.
conclusionThe creation of our search strategy may be of particular interest to other researchers carrying out synthesis of qualitative studies. Importantly, the successful use of NPT to inform a coding frame for data analysis involving qualitative data that describes processes relating to self management highlights the potential of a new method for analyses of qualitative data within systematic reviews.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.