title: Multimorbidity and persistent depression among veterans with diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension.
abstract: This study investigated the association between multimorbidity and persistent depression among cohorts of veterans with diabetes, heart disease, or hypertension. The retrospective longitudinal analysis used national administrative data on around 1.38 millionVeteran Health Administration clinic users merged with Medicare claims data. Multimorbidity was defined as the concurrent presence of two or more chronic conditions (for example, diabetes, heart disease, or hypertension). Chi-square tests and multinomial logistic regressions analyzed the odds in tested relationships. Of all veterans, 5.6 percent were diagnosed with persistent depression. Persistent depression was significantly more likely among veterans with multimorbidity than among those with only hypertension.Veterans with multiple chronic conditions have intensive, long-term health care needs due to persistent depression and, thus, require extensive coordination across a broad spectrum of services.
authors.affiliation: HSR&D Center for Healthcare Knowledge Management, VA New Jersey Health Care System, East Orange, USA. pfindley@ssw.rutgers.edu
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Findley
authors.forename: Chan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Usha
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Sambamoorthi
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002908:Chronic Disease; D015897:Comorbidity; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016015:Logistic Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014728:Veterans / Q000706:statistics & numerical data