Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40537922›Full record

ArticleJournal of the American Geriatrics Society2025

Treatment Burden Among Older Adults in the United States, 2022.

Audrey D Zhang, Emily A Wolfson, Kenneth J Mukamal, Mara A Schonberg, Bruce E Landon

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Audrey D ZhangDivision of General Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-9753-4276
Emily A WolfsonDivision of General Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Kenneth J MukamalDivision of General Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Mara A SchonbergDivision of General Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-5162-5922
Bruce E LandonDivision of General Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Funding

HRS Yrs29-34: Y33 SSA CoFundingU01AG009740 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · PI Jessica Faul, KENNETH M LANGA · 1990 to 2026
$555.8M
Tradeoffs in the Design of Public Long-Term Care BenefitsP01AG032952 · NIA · HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL · PI Bruce E. Landon · 2009 to 2026
$39.0M
Non-esterified Fatty Acids and Chronic Pain in Older AdultsK24AG065525 · NIA · BETH ISRAEL DEACONESS MEDICAL CENTER · PI MUKAMAL, KENNETH JAY · 2020 to 2024
$1.0M
Research and mentoring program in shared decision making in the care of older adultsK24AG071906 · NIA · BETH ISRAEL DEACONESS MEDICAL CENTER · PI SCHONBERG, MARA A · 2021 to 2025
$946k
Improving integration of treatment burden information in primary care for older adults with multiple chronic conditionsK38AG094915 · NIA · BETH ISRAEL DEACONESS MEDICAL CENTER · PI Audrey Dee Zhang · 2025 to 2026
$215k
HRSA HHS T32HP42013NIA NIH HHS K24 AG065525NIA NIH HHS K24 AG071906NIA NIH HHS K38 AG094915NIA NIH HHS P01 AG032952NIA NIH HHS U01 AG009740
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundTreatment burden refers to the patient-perceived effort of managing health and health care, which impacts quality of life and engagement in care. International studies of treatment burden have found high rates of treatment burden among adults with chronic conditions. However, the scope of treatment burden among US older adults is unknown. We described the prevalence of and characteristics associated with treatment burden among US adults age ≥ 50 years.

methodsWe performed a cross-sectional study of 1795 adult respondents to the 2022 Health and Retirement Study (HRS) Treatment Burden Questionnaire (TBQ), a random sub-sample from a nationally-representative panel study of community-dwelling US adults age ≥ 50 years. The primary outcome was total treatment burden score (15 items each scored 0-10, total 0-150; threshold ≥ 59 for high burden). We used multivariable linear regression to examine the association between log-transformed total treatment burden score and sociodemographic, health, and functional status characteristics.

resultsThe mean age of 1795 respondents was 68.5 (SD 8.5) years, 56% were female, and the median TBQ score was 12 (IQR 5-25). Overall, 87% (n = 1550) reported treatment burden (TBQ score ≥ 1); 5% reported high burden. The most common sources of treatment burden were reminders of health problems (61%) and administrative (53%) and financial burdens (46%). Adults age ≥ 65 years were both less likely to report treatment burden and reported lower burden than adults age 50-64 years. Factors associated with greater burden included a higher number of chronic conditions, vision or hearing impairment, ADL/IADL difficulty, and mobility difficulty.

conclusionsMost US adults age ≥ 50 years report treatment burden, though there is wide variation in the degree of burden reported. Reducing treatment burden within the US may require reducing administrative and financial burdens of care and addressing factors that impair patient capacity to manage health and health care.

Indexed as

Cost of IllnessQuality of LifeAgedAged, 80 and overChronic DiseaseCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansIndependent LivingMaleMiddle AgedSurveys and QuestionnairesUnited Statesmultimorbiditypatient experiencequality of carequality of lifetreatment burden

Identifiers

PMID40537922
PMCPMC12264822

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

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.