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Table 1 Characteristics of participants (n = 1,053)

From: Taxonomy of the burden of treatment: a multi-country web-based qualitative study of patients with chronic conditions

Characteristics

Total

Participants from French-speaking countries

Participants from English-speaking countries

Participants from Spanish-speaking countries

(n = 1,053)

(n = 693)

(n = 315)

(n = 45)

Age (yr), Median (IQR)

47 (35–57)

46 (35–56)

49 (36–59)

45 (37–55)

Female sex, n (%)

768 (73)

474 (68)

262 (83)

30 (67)

Marital status, n (%)

    

 Married or civil union

544 (52)

352 (51)

170 (54)

22 (49)

 Live in partner

129 (12)

98 (14)

28 (9.0)

3 (6.7)

 Single

252 (24)

166 (24)

70 (22)

16 (36)

 Divorced

107 (10)

63 (9.0)

42 (14)

2 (4.4)

 Widowed

21 (2.0)

14 (2.0)

5 (1.6)

2 (4.4)

Highest educational level, n (%)

    

 Primary/middle school

30 (2.8)

23 (3.3)

6 (1.9)

1 (2.2)

 High school

305 (29)

249 (36)

44 (14)

12 (27)

 College

718 (68)

421 (61)

265 (84)

32 (71)

Place where participants go most frequently for consultations, n (%)

    

 Public hospital

465 (44)

378 (54)

65 (21)

22 (49)

 Private hospital

83 (7.9)

61 (8.8)

17 (5.4)

5 (11)

 General practitioner’s clinic

295 (28)

163 (24)

124 (39)

7 (16)

 Specialist clinic

210 (20)

91 (13)

109 (35)

11 (24)

Presence of informal caregiver a, n (%)

478 (45)

329 (47)

126 (40)

23 (51)

No. of medical appointments/month, Median (IQR)

4 (2–8)

5 (3–9)

3 (2–5)

3 (2–7)

No. of different physicians the participant regularly sees, n (%)

3 (2–4)

3 (2–4)

3 (2–4)

3 (2–4)

No. of tablets/day, Median (IQR)

8 (4–12)

7 (4–12)

8 (4–15)

4.5 (2–9.5)

No. of injections/day, Median (IQR)

0 (0–1)

0 (0–1)

0 (0–1)

0 (0–1)

Time needed to organize medications per week (minutes), Median (IQR)

30 (14–70)

21 (10–45)

35 (15–90)

35 (10–105)

Time needed for self-monitoring per week (minutes), Median (IQR)

8.5 (0–20)

5 (0–15)

10 (0–35)

17.5 (5–60)

No. of conditions, Median (IQR)

2 (1–3)

2 (1–3)

2 (1–4)

2 (1–3)

Participants with >2 chronic conditions, n (%)

662 (63)

409 (59)

224 (71)

29 (64)

Main chronic conditions b

    

 Diabetes

168 (16)

98 (14)

53 (17)

17 (38)

 Other endocrine disorders

197 (19)

106 (15)

81 (26)

10 (22)

 Lung diseases

142 (13)

52 (7.5)

84 (27)

6 (13)

 High blood pressure or dyslipidemia

303 (29)

207 (30)

87 (28)

9 (20)

 Heart diseases

125 (12)

57 (8.2)

64 (20)

4 (8.9)

 Kidney or urological diseases

304 (29)

285 (41)

18 (5.7)

1 (2.2)

 Gastrointestinal diseases

138 (13)

66 (9.5)

66 (21)

6 (13)

 Stroke or cerebrovascular disease

35 (3.3)

20 (2.9)

15 (4.8)

0 (0)

 Neurologic diseases

146 (14)

89 (13)

49 (16)

8 (18)

 Rheumatologic disease

344 (33)

209 (30)

127 (40)

8 (18)

 Cancer or malignant blood diseases

84 (8.0)

59 (8.5)

21 (6.7)

4 (8.9)

 Psychiatric disease

128 (13)

56 (8.1)

60 (19)

12 (27)

 Vision problems

79 (7.5)

46 (6.6)

29 (9.2)

4 (8.9)

 Otorhinolaryngological problems

64 (6.1)

42 (6.1)

21 (6.7)

1 (2.2)

 Skin diseases

89 (8.4)

58 (8.4)

21 (6.7)

10 (22)

 Infectious disease

12 (1.0)

8 (1.1)

3 (0.9)

1 (2.2)

 Systemic conditions

108 (10)

70 (10)

38 (12)

0 (0)

 Other c

50 (4.7)

26 (3.7)

20 (6.3)

4 (8.9)

  1. a Informal caregivers were family members or friends who helped the participant with healthcare tasks without payment for the care; b A patient can have multiple chronic conditions; c Other included non-malignant hematological conditions, thrombosis, obstetrical conditions, genetic disorders