Demographic and clinical characteristics of older people with multimorbidity accessing primary healthcare in Malawi: A cross-sectional study.
Background: Multimorbidity is a growing global concern, affecting patient outcomes and healthcare costs. In low- and middle-income countries, data on multimorbidity in primary care beyond prevalence is limited. Our study explored the demographic and clinical characteristics of multimorbidity among o...
| Published in: | Journal of Multimorbidity & Comorbidity pp. 1 - 12 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
| Format: | research tables/charts Journal Article |
| Published: |
Sage Publications Inc.
1/27/2025
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=182501226&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 182501226 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 26335565 N4V2 jtl: Journal of Multimorbidity & Comorbidity issn: 26335565 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: 1/27/2025 pid: 344 pub: Sage Publications Inc. place: Thousand Oaks, California artinfo: ui: 182501226 182501226 182501226 10.1177/26335565251317380 182501226 ppf: 1 ppct: 11 formats: tig: atl: Demographic and clinical characteristics of older people with multimorbidity accessing primary healthcare in Malawi: A cross-sectional study. aug: au: Kwaitana, Duncan Jafali, James Bates, Maya Jane van Breevoort, Dorothee Mildestvedt, Thomas Meland, Eivind Umar, Eric affil: Department of Family Medicine, 37610 Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi sug: subj: Primary Health Care Utilization Comorbidity Epidemiology Comorbidity Risk Factors Human Funding Source Malawi Middle Age Aged Aged, 80 and Over Cross Sectional Studies Retrospective Design Record Review Data Analysis Software Age Factors Sex Factors Descriptive Statistics Confidence Intervals Middle Aged: 45-64 years Aged: 65+ years Aged, 80 & over ab: Background: Multimorbidity is a growing global concern, affecting patient outcomes and healthcare costs. In low- and middle-income countries, data on multimorbidity in primary care beyond prevalence is limited. Our study explored the demographic and clinical characteristics of multimorbidity among older people attending primary health care in Malawi. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis on medical records from 15,009 older patients aged ≥50 years across three hospitals in Malawi (one tertiary, two district). Data from 2019-2021 was analyzed using R statistical software to examine patterns of multimorbidity (two or more chronic conditions). Outcome estimates were adjusted for sex, age, location, and year of clinic visit. Results: The overall prevalence of multimorbidity, defined across 17 recorded chronic conditions, was 19.6%. Among the 2,941 cases of multimorbidity, 2,708 (92.0%) involved two chronic conditions, while 233 (8.0%) involved three. While most conditions increased steadily in prevalence with age, diabetes followed a different pattern, with higher prevalence among individuals aged 50–59 years (53.9%) and 60–69 years (52.4%) compared to those 70 years and older (40.3%). After adjusting for clinic visit year, gender, and study location, individuals aged 70 years and older were significantly less likely to have multimorbidity compared to those aged 50–59 years (AOR = 0.57, 95% CI: 0.52–0.62, p < 0.001). Conclusion: The study revealed a wide range of multimorbidity combinations among older people attending primary health care. Strategies to address multimorbidity in older people should include efforts to identify other, less common clusters of chronic conditions. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: research tables/charts Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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