title: Multimorbidity in the community-dwelling elderly in urban China.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The primary objective of the study was to investigate the prevalence and patterns of multimorbidity in the community-dwelling elderly in urban China.
  
  
  METHODS
  By a cluster random sampling method, 2452 persons aged 60 years and older were enrolled as the subjects in an urban community in Nanjing, China. Data on 13 chronic diseases were collected by interviews, physical check-ups and support by physicians. Factor analyses and the logistic regression models were performed to analyze the patterns of multimorbidity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of multimorbidity was 49.4% in the community-dwelling elderly in urban China. The observed prevalence of 6 chronic disease pairs was higher than their expected prevalence, including hypertension and diabetes, hypertension and coronary heart disease, hypertension and dyslipidaemia, diabetes and cataract, diabetes and hearing disorder, hypertension and stroke. Three patterns were detected as follows: the first pattern with a prevalence of 9.5% covered degenerative diseases (hearing disorder, cataract, joint disease) and cancer; The second pattern with a prevalence of 1.7% was characterized by liver disease, lung disease, gastrointestinal disease; And the third pattern with a prevalence of 22.4% was characterized by cardiovascular diseases (dyslipidaemia, hypertension, coronary heart disease), metabolic diseases (diabetes) and kidney disease. Compared with <70 years, ≥80 years were found as the risk factor of the prevalence of three patterns.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A significant proportion of elderly populations was affected by multimorbidity in urban China. Specific patterns of multimorbidity were found at group level and the prevalence was associated with age.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering of Ministry of Education, Department of Medical Insurance, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. Electronic address: 843899267@qq.com.
authors.forename: Jiayi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering of Ministry of Education, Department of Medical Insurance, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. Electronic address: chaoseu@163.com.
authors.forename: Jianqian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chao
authors.affiliation: Zhongda Hospital, Affiliated to Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. Electronic address: chwenji@163.com.
authors.forename: Wenji
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Hospital of Qinghuai, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. Electronic address: qhyyxh@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering of Ministry of Education, Department of Medical Insurance, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. Electronic address: 574827261@qq.com.
authors.forename: Zhenchun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering of Ministry of Education, Department of Medical Insurance, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. Electronic address: 1615976872@qq.com.
authors.forename: Huanghui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering of Ministry of Education, Department of Medical Insurance, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. Electronic address: 121147869@qq.com.
authors.forename: Tingting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering of Ministry of Education, Department of Medical Insurance, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. Electronic address: 1194898665@qq.com.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering of Ministry of Education, Department of Medical Insurance, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. Electronic address: 1814571929@qq.com.
authors.forename: Ruizhi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D002386:Cataract / Q000453:epidemiology; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology; D004066:Digestive System Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D050171:Dyslipidemias / Q000453:epidemiology; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006311:Hearing Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007592:Joint Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D014505:Urban Population
keywords: Chronic diseases; Multimorbidity; Old age