The prevalence of multimorbidity in primary care: a comparison of two definitions of multimorbidity with two different lists of chronic conditions in Singapore.
BMC Public Health
; 21(1): 1409, 2021 07 16.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-34271890
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
The prevalence of multimorbidity varies widely due to the lack of consensus in defining multimorbidity. This study aimed to measure the prevalence of multimorbidity in a primary care setting using two definitions of multimorbidity with two different lists of chronic conditions.METHODS:
We conducted a cross-sectional study of 787,446 patients, aged 0 to 99 years, who consulted a family physician between July 2015 to June 2016. Multimorbidity was defined as 'two or more' (MM2+) or 'three or more' (MM3+) chronic conditions using the Fortin list and Chronic Disease Management Program (CDMP) list of chronic conditions. Crude and standardised prevalence rates were reported, and the corresponding age, sex or ethnic-stratified standardised prevalence rates were adjusted to the local population census.RESULTS:
The number of patients with multimorbidity increased with age. Age-sex-ethnicity standardised prevalence rates of multimorbidity using MM2+ and MM3+ for Fortin list (25.9, 17.2%) were higher than those for CDMP list (22.0%; 12.4%). Sex-stratified, age-ethnicity standardised prevalence rates for MM2+ and MM3+ were consistently higher in males compared to females for both lists. Chinese and Indians have the highest standardised prevalence rates among the four ethnicities using MM2+ and MM3+ respectively.CONCLUSIONS:
MM3+ was better at identifying a smaller number of patients with multimorbidity requiring higher needs compared to MM2+. Using the Fortin list seemed more appropriate than the CDMP list because the chronic conditions in Fortin's list were more commonly seen in primary care. A consistent definition of multimorbidity will help researchers and clinicians to understand the epidemiology of multimorbidity better.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Primary Health Care
/
Multimorbidity
Type of study:
Observational_studies
/
Prevalence_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
Language:
En
Journal:
BMC Public Health
Journal subject:
SAUDE PUBLICA
Year:
2021
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Singapore