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Multimorbidity in Community-Dwelling Older Adults in Beijing: Prevalence and Trends, 2004–2017

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The journal of nutrition, health & aging

Abstract

Objectives

The burden of multimorbidity is increasing worldwide; however, little is known about trends in multimorbidity prevalence among Chinese older adults. We aimed to estimate the prevalence and trends of multimorbidity in community-dwelling older adults in Beijing.

Design

Longitudinal.

Setting and participants

Residents of Beijing aged ≥60 years.

Measurements

Data were derived from the Beijing Longitudinal Study of Aging, using cluster, stratification, and random sampling. A total of 1842, 2914, and 1837 participants were included in the 2004, 2011, and 2017 sample, respectively. Multimorbidity was defined as the presence of two or more chronic conditions. Trends in multimorbidity were examined by age, sex, and geographical area.

Results

The prevalence of multimorbidity was 32.5%, 52.9%, and 53.2% in 2004, 2011, and 2017, respectively, following an upward trend over time (P =0.003). A similar multimorbidity increase trend was present in age-, sex-, and region-stratified analysis for the 2004–2017 period (all P<0.05). The most common chronic diseases in 2004 were hypertension (34.3%), cataract (18.2%), coronary heart disease (CHD) (15.6%), stroke (14.3%), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (7.9%); in 2011, these were hypertension (49.6%), arthritis (30.9%), CHD (22.3%), stroke (21.9%), and diabetes (15.1%); in 2017, these were hypertension (54.4%), arthritis (26.3%), stroke (22.6%), cataract (20.5%), and CHD (20.1%). The proportion of older adults diagnosed with ≥3 chronic diseases significantly increased from 13.4% in 2004 to 73.1% in 2011 and 69.5% in 2017.

Conclusions

Multimorbidity is common and the overall and age-, sex-, and region-specific multimorbidity prevalence has been increasing over the past 13 years. Public health policies should account for the more complex care needs and growing costs associated with increasing prevalence of chronic disease and multimorbidity in Chinese older adults.

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Funding

Funding sources: This work was supported by the following grants: National Key R&D Program of China (2018YFC2002101, 2017YFBl401202), Beijing Municipal Administration of Hospitals Incubating Program (PX2020036), Beijing Natural Science Foundation (7202059), and The Ministry of Health Welfare Industry Special Fund (201002011).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geriatrics, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Diseases, Beijing, China

    L. Zhang, Y. Li, Zhe Tang & Lina Ma

  2. Beijing Geriatric Healthcare Center, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100053, China

    L. Zhang, F. Sun, Zhe Tang & Lina Ma

  3. Department of Geriatrics, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100053, China

    Lina Ma

Authors
  1. L. Zhang
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  2. F. Sun
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  3. Y. Li
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  4. Zhe Tang
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  5. Lina Ma
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Zhe Tang or Lina Ma.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval: The study was approved by ethics committee of Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University.

Conflict of Interest: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Zhang, L., Sun, F., Li, Y. et al. Multimorbidity in Community-Dwelling Older Adults in Beijing: Prevalence and Trends, 2004–2017. J Nutr Health Aging 25, 116–119 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-020-1467-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-020-1467-4

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