Emerging multimorbidity patterns and their links with selected health outcomes in a working-age population group

J Prev Med Hyg. 2022 Apr 26;63(1):E152-E160. doi: 10.15167/2421-4248/jpmh2022.63.1.2303. eCollection 2022 Mar.

Abstract

Background: The study aims to identify recurrent multimorbidity pattern among individuals in the age-group 15-64 years. Further, the study examines the association of these identified patterns with sociodemographic variables and selected health outcomes.

Methods: The study utilized data on 2912 individuals in the age-group 15-64 years collected under the burden of diseases study among patients attending public health care settings of Odisha. A latent class analysis was used to identify commonly occurring disease clusters.

Results: The findings suggested that 2.4% of the individuals were multimorbid. Two latent disease clusters were identified, low co-morbidity and Hypertension-Diabetes-Arthritis. Findings highlighted that age, belonging to a non-aboriginal ethnicity and urban area increased the risk of being in the 'Hypertension-Diabetes-Arthritis' group. Furthermore, 50% of the individual in the 'Hypertension-Diabetes-Arthritis' group reported poor quality of life, whereas 30% reported poor self-rated health compared to only 11% by their counterparts. Additionally, the mean health score reported by the individuals in the 'Hypertension-Diabetes-Arthritis' group was 39.9 compared to 46.9 by their counterparts.

Conclusions: The study findings hint towards increasing burden of multimorbidity among the working age population, which depicts a shift in causation of diseases as a result of which preventive measures also need to be taken much prior.

Keywords: Latent class analysis; Multimorbidity; Primary care; Quality of life; Self-rated health.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Arthritis* / epidemiology
  • Chronic Disease
  • Diabetes Mellitus* / epidemiology
  • Humans
  • Hypertension* / epidemiology
  • Middle Aged
  • Multimorbidity
  • Outcome Assessment, Health Care
  • Population Groups
  • Quality of Life
  • Young Adult