Multimorbidity in old age and its impact on life results

Abstract

Background High prevalence diseases, such as high blood pressure, dementia and depression in old age can lead to multimorbidity, which is often defined as the presence of more than one health condition in an individual. Multimorbidity has negative consequences on health-related quality of life and healthcare utilization. As many age-associated diseases are not curable, therapeutic goals like preservation of autonomy, functioning, and life satisfaction become more important in old age patients. Objective The prevalence of multimorbidity dementia and depressive symptoms and the consequences of multimorbidity on autonomy, functioning, and life satisfaction among the oldest old were examined. Material and methods In personal computer-assisted interviews, participants of the representative study NRW80+ were asked for which health issues they received medical treatment. Results On average, people above the age of 80 years were treated for 3.62 diseases and 31.4% of older people received medical treatment for 5 or more diseases. A connection between multimorbidity and age group could not be shown. Autonomy, functioning, and life satisfaction are reduced in association with multimorbidity. Conclusion Multimorbidity is a frequent phenomenon among old people. A lack of diagnostic procedures and medical treatment can be a reason for the missing age trends. The results illustrate the importance of multimorbidity for patient-relevant outcomes and reveal the need to identify patients with multimorbidity.

Individual characteristics associated with the utilization of nursing care in the very old population: a cross-sectional study

“…Multimorbidity was operationalized as the experience of five or more chronic conditions using self-reported medically treated diseases. For more information on the assessment of multimorbidity in NRW80+, see Brijoux et al [ 31 ]. To determine cognitive impairment, the DemTect screening tool [ 32 ] was applied, defining at cut-off of eight and fewer points as dementia, and nine to 12 points as mild cognitive impairment [ 31 ].…”

“…For more information on the assessment of multimorbidity in NRW80+, see Brijoux et al [ 31 ]. To determine cognitive impairment, the DemTect screening tool [ 32 ] was applied, defining at cut-off of eight and fewer points as dementia, and nine to 12 points as mild cognitive impairment [ 31 ]. Physical frailty was defined based on a study by Fried et al [ 33 ] using the following four frailty criteria: exhaustion, unintentional weight loss, weakness, and low physical activity.…”

The NRW80+ study: conceptual background and study groups

“…With regard to life chances, indicators in NRW80+ include individual values (see [32] in this issue) or social relations (see [35] in this issue) for the person and environment level, respectively. Life results included indicators such as life satisfaction (see [8] in this issue). CHAPO adds to this the notion of successful life conduct as a systemic concept integrating the idea of personenvironment-fit and mechanisms to retain identity, autonomy, and participation in light of compromised physical and mental capacity that characterize fourth age [42][43][44].…”

Frequency and Correlates of Multimorbidity Among the Oldest Old: Study Findings from the Representative “Survey on Quality of Life and Subjective Well-Being of the Very Old in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW80+)”

“…Our findings may be important to address individuals at increased risk of multimorbidity which in turn is important because it can contribute to successful ageing and longevity in late life. 20 …”