Patterns of multimorbidity in hospitalized older adults based on factor analysis / 中华老年医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore the multimorbidity patterns in older inpatients adults, and their differences between Northern and Southern China.Methods:A total of 4 348 elderly patients aged 60 and above from the geriatrics departments of 12 grade A tertiary hospitals in 7 cities in China were investigated.Factor analysis was used to explore the comorbidity patterns and analyze the differences in comorbidity patterns between Southern and Northern China.Results:The study population consisted of 4 348 patients over the age of 60, with an average age of(74.15±8.01)years.The total sample had a Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin(KMO)sampling adequacy index of 0.657 and a cumulative variance percentage of 43.97%.Factor analysis revealed there were five major multimorbidity patterns in the patients.These were the metabolic pattern; the liver-kidney pattern; the degenerative pattern; the neuropsychiatric pattern; dementia.Further factor analysis for the South and the North was conducted.Older inpatients in Southern regions had a KMO sampling adequacy index of 0.654 and a cumulative variance percentage of 43.50%.In Southern China, the multimorbidity patterns were similar to the overall patterns.In Northern regions, older inpatients had a KMO sampling adequacy index of 0.648 and a cumulative variance percentage of 45.16%.The liver-kidney pattern, metabolic disease pattern, lung-dementia pattern, degenerative disease pattern, and neuropsychiatric pattern were the main multimorbidity patterns in Northern China.Conclusions:Multimorbidity patterns were different between Northern and Southern China and should be differentiated in their management.In the North, older adults should pay more attention to the prevention and management of respiratory system diseases and dementia, while in the South, older adults should pay more attention to the prevention and management of degenerative disease.Early disease prevention based on multimorbidity patterns is one of the approaches to the reduction of chronic diseases in older adults.