BackgroundAdults with intellectual disabilities have increased early mortality compared with the general population. However, their extent of multimorbidity (two or more additional conditions) compared with the general population is unknown, particularly with regards to physical ill-health, as are associations between comorbidities, neighbourhood deprivation, and age.MethodsWe analysed primary health-care data on 1,424,378 adults registered with 314 representative Scottish practices. Data on intellectual disabilities, 32 physical, and six mental health conditions were extracted. We generated standardised prevalence rates by age-groups, gender, and neighbourhood deprivation, then calculated odds ratio (OR) and 95 % confidence intervals (95 % CI) for adults with intellectual disabilities compared to those without, for the prevalence, and number of condition.ResultsEight thousand fourteen (0.56 %) had intellectual disabilities, of whom only 31.8 % had no other conditions compared to 51.6 % without intellectual disabilities (OR 0.26, 95 % 0.25–0.27). The intellectual disabilities group were significantly more likely to have more conditions, with the biggest difference found for three conditions (10.9 % versus 6.8 %; OR 2.28, 95 % CI 2.10–2.46). Fourteen physical conditions were significantly more prevalent, and four cardiovascular conditions occurred less frequently, as did any cancers, and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases. Five of the six mental health conditions were significantly more prevalent. For the adults with intellectual disabilities, no gradient was seen in extent of multimorbidity with increasing neighbourhood deprivation; indeed findings were similar in the most affluent and most deprived areas. Co-morbidity increased with age but is highly prevalent at all ages, being similar at age 20–25 to 50–54 year olds in the general population.ConclusionsMulti-morbidity burden is greater, occurs at much earlier age, and the profile of health conditions differs, for adults with intellectual disabilities compared with the general population. There is no association with neighbourhood deprivation; people with intellectual disabilities need focussed services irrespective of where they live, and at a much earlier age than the general population. They require specific initiatives to reduce inequalities.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12875-015-0329-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

BackgroundMultimorbidity occurs at a younger age in individuals in areas of high socioeconomic deprivation but little is known about the ‘typology’ of multimorbidity in different age groups and its association with socioeconomic status.AimTo characterise multimorbidity type and most common conditions in a large nationally representative primary care dataset in terms of age and deprivation.Design and settingCross-sectional analysis of 1 272 685 adults in Scotland.MethodMultimorbidity type of participants (physical-only, mental-only, mixed physical, and mental) and most common conditions were analysed according to age and deprivation.ResultsMultimorbidity increased with age, ranging from 8.1% in those aged 25–34 to 76.1% for those aged ≥75 years. Physical-only (56% of all multimorbidity) was the most common type of multimorbidity in those aged ≥55 years, and did not vary substantially with deprivation. Mental-only was uncommon (4% of all multimorbidity), whereas mixed physical and mental (40% of all multimorbidity) was the most common type of multimorbidity in those aged <55 years and was two- to threefold more common in the most deprived compared with the least deprived in most age groups. Ten conditions (seven physical and three mental) accounted for the top five most common conditions in people with multimorbidity in all age groups. Depression and pain featured in the top five conditions across all age groups. Deprivation was associated with a higher prevalence of depression, drugs misuse, anxiety, dyspepsia, pain, coronary heart disease, and diabetes in multimorbid patients at different ages.ConclusionMixed physical and mental multimorbidity is common across the life-span and is exacerbated by deprivation from early adulthood onwards.

ObjectiveTo assess the nature and extent of physical-health comorbidities in people with schizophrenia and related psychoses compared with controls.DesignCross-sectional study.Setting314 primary care practices in Scotland.Participants9677 people with a primary care record of schizophrenia or a related psychosis and 1 414 701 controls. Main outcome measures Primary care records of 32 common chronic physical-health conditions and combinations of one, two and three or more physical-health comorbidities adjusted for age, gender and deprivation status.ResultsCompared with controls, people with schizophrenia were significantly more likely to have one physical-health comorbidity (OR 1.21, 95% CI 1.16 to 1.27), two physical-health comorbidities (OR 1.37, 95% CI 1.29 to 1.44) and three or more physical-health comorbidities (OR 1.19, 95% CI 1.12 to 1.27). Rates were highest for viral hepatitis (OR 3.98, 95% CI 2.81 to 5.64), constipation (OR 3.24, 95% CI 3.00 to 4.49) and Parkinson's disease (OR 3.07, 95% CI 2.42 to 3.88) but people with schizophrenia had lower recorded rates of cardiovascular disease, including atrial fibrillation (OR 0.62, 95% CI 0.51 to 0.73), hypertension (OR 0.71, 95% CI 0.67 to 0.76), coronary heart disease (OR 0.75, 95% CI 0.61 to 0.71) and peripheral vascular disease (OR 0.83, 95% CI 0.71 to 0.97).ConclusionsPeople with schizophrenia have a wide range of comorbid and multiple physical-health conditions but are less likely than people without schizophrenia to have a primary care record of cardiovascular disease. This suggests a systematic under-recognition and undertreatment of cardiovascular disease in people with schizophrenia, which might contribute to substantial premature mortality observed within this patient group.

BackgroundVisual impairment is common in older people and the presence of additional health conditions can compromise health and rehabilitation outcomes. A small number of studies have suggested that comorbities are common in visual impairment; however, those studies have relied on self-report and have assessed a relatively limited number of comorbid conditions.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional analysis of a dataset of 291,169 registered patients (65-years-old and over) within 314 primary care practices in Scotland, UK. Visual impairment was identified using Read Code ever recorded for blindness and/or low vision (within electronic medical records). Prevalence, odds ratios (from prevalence rates standardised by stratifying individuals by age groups (65 to 69 years; 70 to 74; 75 to 79; 80 to 84; and 85 and over), gender and deprivation quintiles) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) of 37 individual chronic physical/mental health conditions and total number of conditions were calculated and compared for those with visual impairment to those without.ResultsTwenty seven of the 29 physical health conditions and all eight mental health conditions were significantly more likely to be recorded for individuals with visual impairment compared to individuals without visual impairment, after standardising for age, gender and social deprivation. Individuals with visual impairment were also significantly more likely to have more comorbidities (for example, five or more conditions (odds ratio (OR) 2.05 95% CI 1.94 to 2.18)).ConclusionsPatients aged 65 years and older with visual impairment have a broad range of physical and mental health comorbidities compared to those of the same age without visual impairment, and are more likely to have multiple comorbidities. This has important implications for clinical practice and for the future design of integrated services to meet the complex needs of patients with visual impairment, for example, embedding depression and hearing screening within eye care services.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12916-014-0181-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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1Co-morbidity and polypharmacy in people with dementia: insights from a large, population-based cross-sectional analysis of primary care data Word count: 2,303 Competing interestsWe declare the following interests: BG and GM report grants from the Chief Scientist Office ARPG 07/01 during the conduct of the study. Authors' ContributionsBG and SWM conceived the idea of the study. GMcL carried out statistical analysis and drafting of the results and methodology with BG. FC drafted literature review and interpretation of findings with BG, ER and SWM. All authors contributed to draft revisions. All authors approved the final version before submission. SWM is the guarantor for this study. AcknowledgementsThis analysis had no external funding. The original study which created the dataset was funded by Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office Applied Research Programme Grant 07/01. The funder had no role in study design, data collection, data analysis, data interpretation, or writing of the report, or the decision to submit for publication. The corresponding author had full access to all the data in the study and had final responsibility for the decision to submit for publication. We would like to thank all the practices which gave permission for the data to be used for research and the Primary Care Clinical Informatics Unit at the University of Aberdeen, which provided the data contained herein. The views in this publication are not necessarily the views of the University of Aberdeen, its agents, or employees. We thank Katie Wilde and Fiona Chaloner of the University of Aberdeen, who did the initial data extraction and management. This paper reports a large cross sectional study of polypharmacy and physical comorbidity among older people with dementia.People with dementia had more physical conditions and were also prescribed more medications than those without dementia.This data highlights the importance of integrating specialist and non-specialist care to support complex symptom management.

BackgroundIndividuals with serious mental disorders experience poor physical health, especially increased rates of cardiometabolic morbidity and premature morbidity. Recent evidence suggests that individuals with schizophrenia have numerous comorbid physical conditions that may be under-recorded and undertreated, but to date very few studies have explored this issue for bipolar disorder.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional analysis of a dataset of 1,751,841 registered patients within 314 primary care practices in Scotland, UK. Bipolar disorder was identified using Read Codes recorded within electronic medical records. Data on 32 common chronic physical conditions were also assessed. Potential prescribing inequalities were evaluated by analysing prescribing data for coronary heart disease (CHD) and hypertension.ResultsCompared to controls, individuals with bipolar disorder were significantly less likely to have no recorded physical conditions (OR 0.59, 95% CI 0.54 to 0.63) and significantly more likely to have one physical condition (OR 1.27, 95% CI 1.16 to 1.39), two physical conditions (OR 1.45, 95% CI 1.30 to 1.62) and three or more physical conditions (OR 1.44, 95% CI 1.30 to 1.64). People with bipolar disorder also had higher rates of thyroid disorders, chronic kidney disease, chronic pain, chronic obstructive airways disease and diabetes but, surprisingly, lower recorded rates of hypertension and atrial fibrillation. People with bipolar disorder and comorbid CHD or hypertension were significantly more likely to be prescribed no antihypertensive or cholesterol-lowering medications compared to controls, and bipolar individuals with CHD or hypertension were significantly less likely to be on two or more antihypertensive agents.ConclusionsIndividuals with bipolar disorder are similar to individuals with schizophrenia in having a wide range of comorbid and multiple physical health conditions. They are also less likely than controls to have a primary-care record of cardiovascular conditions such as hypertension and atrial fibrillation. Those with a recorded diagnosis of CHD or hypertension were less likely to be treated with cardiovascular medications and were treated less intensively. This study highlights the high physical healthcare needs of people with bipolar disorder, and provides evidence for a systematic under-recognition and undertreatment of cardiovascular disease in this group.

Objective:To synthesize the evidence for using interactive digital interventions (IDIs) to support patient self-management of hypertension, and to determine their impact on control and reduction of blood pressure.Method:Systematic review with meta-analysis was undertaken with a search performed in MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, ERIC, Cochrane Library, DoPHER, TROPHI, Social Science Citation Index and Science Citation Index. The population was adults (>18 years) with hypertension, intervention was an IDI and the comparator was usual care. Primary outcomes were change in SBP and DBP. Only randomized controlled trials and studies published in journals and in English were eligible. Eligible IDIs included interventions accessed through a computer, smartphone or other hand-held device.Results:Four out of seven studies showed a significantly greater reduction for intervention compared to usual care for SBP, with no difference found for three. Overall, IDIs significantly reduced SBP, with the weighted mean difference being −3.74 mmHg [95% confidence interval (CI) −2.19 to −2.58] with no heterogeneity observed (I-squared = 0.0%, P = 0.990). For DBP, four out of six studies indicated a greater reduction for intervention compared to controls, with no difference found for two. For DBP, a significant reduction of −2.37 mmHg (95% CI −0.40 to −4.35) was found, but considerable heterogeneity was noted (I-squared = 80.1%, P = <0.001).Conclusion:IDIs lower both SBP and DBP compared to usual care. Results suggest these findings can be applied to a wide range of healthcare systems and populations. However, sustainability and long-term clinical effectiveness of these interventions remain uncertain.