Abstract
BackgroundInfluenced by various factors such as socio-demographic characteristics, behavioral lifestyles and socio-cultural environment, the multimorbidity patterns in old adults remain complex. This study aims to identify their characteristics and associated multi-layered factors based on health ecological model.MethodsIn 2019, we surveyed a total of 7480 participants aged 60+ by using a multi-stage random cluster sampling method in Shanxi province, China. Latent class analysis was used to discriminate the multimorbidity patterns in old adults, and hierarchical regression was performed to determine the multi-layered factors associated with their various multimorbidity patterns.ResultsThe prevalence of multimorbidity was 34.70% among the old patients with chronic disease. Over half (60.59%) of the patients with multimorbidity had two co-existing chronic diseases. “Degenerative/digestive diseases”, “metabolic diseases” and “cardiovascular diseases” were three specific multimorbidity patterns. Behavioral lifestyles-layered factors had the most explanatory power for the three patterns, whose proportions of explanatory power were 54.00, 43.90 and 48.15% individually. But the contributions of other multi-layered factors were different in different patterns; balanced diet, medication adherence, the size of family and friendship network, and different types of basic medical insurance might have the opposite effect on the three multimorbidity patterns (p < 0.05).ConclusionsIn management of old patients with multimorbidity, we should prioritize both the “lifestyle change”-centered systematic management strategy and group-customized intervention programs.
Highlights
Influenced by various factors such as socio-demographic characteristics, behavioral lifestyles and socio-cultural environment, the multimorbidity patterns in old adults remain complex
Descriptive results In total, 1188 (18.14%) old adults did not suffer from any chronic disease, and 34.70% of patients with chronic disease suffered from multimorbidity
The majority of multimorbidity old patients suffered from two co-existing chronic diseases (60.59%)
Summary
Influenced by various factors such as socio-demographic characteristics, behavioral lifestyles and socio-cultural environment, the multimorbidity patterns in old adults remain complex. A study revealed the risk of death was 1.73 (95% CI: 1.41; 2.13) and 2.72 (95% CI: 1.81; 4.08) for individuals with 2+ and 3+ co-existing chronic diseases respectively compared with individuals with ≤1 chronic disease [3]. Multimorbidity has a more recognizable measuring standard and implies a more holistic evaluation of the individual’s clinical complexity [9]. To reflect this complexity, it is needed to analyze the differences among co-existing chronic diseases patterns but not the discrepancy in the number of chronic diseases [10, 11]. The probability of occurrence through specific patterns was higher than that of random disease combinations among patients with multimorbidity
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