Gender Difference in Circulatory Associated Multi-Morbidity among the Elderly in Rural Southwest China

Abstract

Aim: This study examined the prevalence of four chronic circulatory system diseases (hypertension, CHD, hyperlipemia, Stroke) and associated multi-morbidity in order to identify the risk factors among the elderly in Yunnan province. Methods: A cross-sectional survey including 2299 consenting adults aged ≥ 60 years from rural places was conducted in 2018. Data of demographic parameters and clinical characteristics were acquired from questionnaire and health examination. Categorical variables were presented as counts and percentages. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the association between individual SES and lifestyle variables and multimorbidity of the four chronic cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. All analyses were conducted with SPSS 17.0 software. Results: Our study suggested that the prevalence of hypertension, CHD, hyperlipemia, Stroke was 57.1%, 4.2%, 5.9% and 5.3%, respectively and the prevalence of multimorbidity was 10.3%. Females had a higher prevalence of family history of chronic cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, obesity, central obesity and illiteracy than males (P < 0.01), whereas males had a markedly higher prevalence of drinking, smoking and good sleeping quality than females (P < 0.01). The family genetic history, obesity, smoking, education, and diabetes were positively and drinking was negatively correlated with the prevalence of circulatory associated multimorbidity in elderly. Interestingly, some of the above associations were only observed in male/female but not the other sex. Conclusions: The prevalence of circulatory disease associated multimorbidity is relatively high among elderly population in rural places of Yunan province and the risk factors are different between females and males.