Prevalence and Associated Factors of Multimorbidity among Elderly People of Bangladesh

Abstract

Background: Human aging is a dynamic and progressive natural process which is depends on interacting hereditary, biological, social, environmental, historical and cultural factors that determine the quality of life of an older individual. Multimorbidity was defined as the co‐occurrence of at least two chronic diseases in a person whether as a coincidence or not. Little attention has been paid to the study of the prevalence of multimorbidity among the elderly in Bangladesh. The study aimed to find out the prevalence and associated factors of multimorbidity among elderly people of Bangladesh. Methods: It was a hospital-based cross-sectional study, conducted in Department of Community Medicine, International Nursing College, Tongi, Bangladesh from January to December 2022. Data were collected from 250 participants. Categorical data were presented as proportion, and continuous data were presented as mean (SD). The Chi-square test and multivariate logistic regression were used to find out the association between frailty and other variables. Results: Total Two hundred fifty eligible elderly persons were approached for the study. So, were analysed (response rate = 85%). The mean age (SD) of the participants was 70 (7.0) years. About half (55.2%) of them were female, 48% were living in a rural areas, and 68% were Muslim by religion. About two-thirds (58%) of participants were married (currently in union), and were living with either their spouses or children. Nearly one-third (64.4%) of participants were illiterate. The prevalence of multimorbidity was significantly higher among women than among men, among illiterate than among literate persons, among persons who belonged to the non-poorest quintiles than among the poorest quintile, and also significantly higher among single than among married persons. The most common disorders were arthritis (57.2%) and hypertension (38.4%). The prevalence of arthritis was significantly higher among the illiterate than among the ..........