Background: Throughout the world the population is aging, with multimorbidity being a common problem in the elderly. Objective: To explore patterns of multimorbidity in an elderly population. Design: A community-based survey of inhabitants aged 85 years. Participants: 328 individuals from among 487 people born in 1924 and assigned to one of seven primary healthcare teams (participation rate of 67.5%). Measurements: Socio-demographic variables and data from the global geriatric assessment were evaluated. Information on the presence of sixteen common chronic conditions was collected: hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidaemia, ischemic cardiomyopathy, heart failure, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, (COPD), atrial fibrillation, peripheral arterial disease, Parkinson’s disease, cancer, dementia, anaemia, chronic kidney disease (CKD), visual impairment and deafness. Hierarchical cluster analysis was performed. Results: The rate of multimorbidity (>1 diseases) was 95.1%. Men had a higher percentage of COPD and malignancy. Four main clusters were identified. The highest value of the bivariate correlation matrix was that between heart failure and visual impairment. These two diseases were included in a cluster with atrial fibrillation, CKD, heart failure, stroke, high blood pressure and diabetes mellitus. Conclusion: The large majority of oldest old subjects had multimorbidity. The results confirm the non-random co-occurrence of certain diseases in this age group.
Patterns of comorbidity and multimorbidity in the oldest old: The Octabaix study
MARENGONI, Alessandra
2013-01-01
Abstract
Background: Throughout the world the population is aging, with multimorbidity being a common problem in the elderly. Objective: To explore patterns of multimorbidity in an elderly population. Design: A community-based survey of inhabitants aged 85 years. Participants: 328 individuals from among 487 people born in 1924 and assigned to one of seven primary healthcare teams (participation rate of 67.5%). Measurements: Socio-demographic variables and data from the global geriatric assessment were evaluated. Information on the presence of sixteen common chronic conditions was collected: hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidaemia, ischemic cardiomyopathy, heart failure, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, (COPD), atrial fibrillation, peripheral arterial disease, Parkinson’s disease, cancer, dementia, anaemia, chronic kidney disease (CKD), visual impairment and deafness. Hierarchical cluster analysis was performed. Results: The rate of multimorbidity (>1 diseases) was 95.1%. Men had a higher percentage of COPD and malignancy. Four main clusters were identified. The highest value of the bivariate correlation matrix was that between heart failure and visual impairment. These two diseases were included in a cluster with atrial fibrillation, CKD, heart failure, stroke, high blood pressure and diabetes mellitus. Conclusion: The large majority of oldest old subjects had multimorbidity. The results confirm the non-random co-occurrence of certain diseases in this age group.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
