SynthesisBMC family practice2016
Patient capacity and constraints in the experience of chronic disease: a qualitative systematic review and thematic synthesis.
Synthesis in BMC family practice, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 86 papers, 9 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
86 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Pooled it
- The impact of health and wellness coaching on patient-important outcomes in chronic illness care: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Patient education and counseling · 2023Pooled it
- Treatment burden in individuals living with and beyond cancer: A systematic review of qualitative literature.PloS one · 2023Pooled it
- Influence of health-system change on treatment burden: a systematic review.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2023Pooled it
- Decreasing patient-reported burden of treatment: A systematic review of quantitative interventional studies.PloS one · 2021Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Work of being an adult patient with chronic kidney disease: a systematic review of qualitative studies.BMJ open · 2018Pooled it
- Does the chronic care model meet the emerging needs of people living with multimorbidity? A systematic review and thematic synthesis.PloS one · 2018Pooled it
- Patient-experienced burden of treatment in patients with multimorbidity - A systematic review of qualitative data.PloS one · 2017Pooled it
- The Health and Life in Balance intervention to improve patient capacity for older people with multimorbidity: a pragmatic mixed methods non-randomised pilot study.BMC primary care · 2025Trial
- Engaging patients in population-based chronic disease management: A qualitative study of barriers and intervention opportunities.Patient education and counseling · 2022Trial
- Price Transparency and Patient Empowerment.Health care analysis : HCA : journal of health philosophy and policy · 2026Article
- Type 2 diabetes mellitus.Nature reviews. Disease primers · 2026Review
- Article
- WHF Roadmap for Integrated Care in People Living with - or at Risk of - Cardiovascular Disease and Multiple Long-Term Conditions.Global heart · 2026Review
- Disparities in treatment burden in Peru among people with multiple long-term conditions by geography and healthcare facility: A cross-sectional study.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Exploration of treatment burden during transition onto kidney replacement therapy: A longitudinal qualitative study.PloS one · 2026Article
- Treatment burden and health literacy among patients referred to a vascular access clinic: a cross-sectional study.BMC nephrology · 2025Article
- Translational framework for implementation evaluation and research: a critical approach to patient-centred equity design.Implementation science communications · 2025Article
- Article
26 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundLife and healthcare demand work from patients, more so from patients living with multimorbidity. Patients must respond by mobilizing available abilities and resources, their so-called capacity. We sought to summarize accounts of challenges that reduce patient capacity to access or use healthcare or to enact self-care while carrying out their lives.
methodsWe conducted a systematic review and synthesis of the qualitative literature published since 2000 identifying from MEDLINE, EMBASE, Psychinfo, and CINAHL and retrieving selected abstracts for full text assessment for inclusion. After assessing their methodological rigor, we coded their results using a thematic synthesis approach.
resultsThe 110 reports selected, when synthesized, showed that patient capacity is an accomplishment of interaction with (1) the process of rewriting their biographies and making meaningful lives in the face of chronic condition(s); (2) the mobilization of resources; (3) healthcare and self-care tasks, particularly, the cognitive, emotional, and experiential results of accomplishing these tasks despite competing priorities; (4) their social networks; and (5) their environment, particularly when they encountered kindness or empathy about their condition and a feasible treatment plan.
conclusionPatient capacity is a complex and dynamic construct that exceeds "resources" alone. Additional work needs to translate this emerging theory into useful practice for which we propose a clinical mnemonic (BREWS) and the ICAN Discussion Aid.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.