The Association Between Chronic Condition Symptoms and Treatment Burden in a Skilled Nursing Population.
Nathanial Schreiner, Stacie Schreiner, Barbara Daly
PMID 30484847WHAT IT FOUND
Fatigue was the symptom most linked to treatment burden in 74 adults leaving a skilled nursing facility.
Caregiver presence was associated with lower fatigue, and the fatigue-burden link was weaker in that group.
Key findings
01Fatigue was the most strongly associated chronic condition symptom with treatment burden (r=.64, p<.001) and remained a predictor in multivariate analysis (standardized beta=.55, p<.000).
02After controlling for chronic condition severity, homecare visits, and caregiver presence, fatigue still predicted treatment burden (standardized beta=.47, p<.000), and caregiver presence was significant (standardized beta=-.21, p=.04).
03Participants with caregivers reported lower fatigue (11.53 vs 14.04), and fatigue did not significantly predict treatment burden in that group (standardized beta=.33, p=.08).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The sample was small (74) and recruited by convenience sampling from one skilled nursing facility, so it may not represent other older adults. The design was cross-sectional, so it cannot show that fatigue causes treatment burden or that caregiver presence reduces burden. The authors said the multivariate analysis was underpowered, although the observed effect size was large enough to detect significance. Physical function and fatigue were measured by self-report, and objective measures such as walk tests or ADL scores were not included. The caregiver subgroup finding was a post-hoc split, not a planned test of caregiver intervention.
Declared interests
There was no disclosed conflict of interest or funding.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read fatigue or caregiver presence as proven causes or solutions. The study was cross-sectional, and caregiver status was not assigned or tested as an intervention.