title: Comorbidity patterns in patients with chronic diseases in general practice.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Healthcare management is oriented toward single diseases, yet multimorbidity is nevertheless the rule and there is a tendency for certain diseases to occur in clusters. This study sought to identify comorbidity patterns in patients with chronic diseases, by reference to number of comorbidities, age and sex, in a population receiving medical care from 129 general practitioners in Spain, in 2007.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study was conducted in a health-area setting of the Madrid Autonomous Region (Comunidad Autónoma), covering a population of 198,670 individuals aged over 14 years. Multiple correspondences were analyzed to identify the clustering patterns of the conditions targeted.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty-two percent (95% confidence interval [CI]: 41.8-42.2) of the registered population had at least one chronic condition. In all, 24.5% (95% CI: 24.3-24.6) of the population presented with multimorbidity. In the correspondence analysis, 98.3% of the total information was accounted for by three dimensions. The following four, age- and sex-related comorbidity patterns were identified: pattern B, showing a high comorbidity rate; pattern C, showing a low comorbidity rate; and two patterns, A and D, showing intermediate comorbidity rates.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Four comorbidity patterns could be identified which grouped diseases as follows: one showing diseases with a high comorbidity burden; one showing diseases with a low comorbidity burden; and two showing diseases with an intermediate comorbidity burden.
authors.affiliation: Multiprofessional Education Unit for Family and Community Care (Southwest), Madrid, Spain. lgarcia.gapm02@salud.madrid.org
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: García-Olmos
authors.forename: Carlos H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Salvador
authors.forename: Ángel
authors.initials: Á
authors.lastname: Alberquilla
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lora
authors.forename: Montserrat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Carmona
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: García-Sagredo
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pascual
authors.forename: Adolfo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Muñoz
authors.forename: José Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Monteagudo
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: García-López
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D019468:Disease Management; D005260:Female; D058006:General Practice / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology