Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus often face significant treatment burden, which substantially impacts their quality of life and health outcomes. Reducing treatment burden represents a critical component for improving patient prognosis and enhancing treatment adherence. Based on the cumulative complexity model, this article systematically examines the conceptual connotation and multidimensional characteristics of treatment burden in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients, explores the theoretical extension and application value of cumulative complexity model in the type 2 diabetes mellitus field, elucidates its specific applications and recent advances in treatment burden research, evaluates the limitations of existing assessment tools while proposing a multidimensional assessment framework, and ultimately develops cumulative complexity model based intervention strategies. The findings provide theoretical references for optimizing patient-centered diabetes management approaches and offer novel perspectives for treatment burden intervention.