SynthesisThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2012
Multimorbidity in primary care: a systematic review of prospective cohort studies.
Synthesis in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 120 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
120 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Social determinants of multimorbidity patterns: A systematic review.Frontiers in public health · 2023Pooled it
- Prevalence and risks of tuberculosis multimorbidity in low-income and middle-income countries: a meta-review.BMJ open · 2022Pooled it
- Multimorbidity of non-communicable diseases in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ open · 2022Pooled it
- Inequalities in the progress of multiple chronic conditions: A systematic review of longitudinal studies.PloS one · 2022Pooled it
- Living with and beyond cancer with comorbid illness: a qualitative systematic review and evidence synthesis.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2019Pooled it
- The role of diseases, risk factors and symptoms in the definition of multimorbidity - a systematic review.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2016Pooled it
- Challenges of self-management when living with multiple chronic conditions: systematic review of the qualitative literature.Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2014Pooled it
- Prevalence, determinants and patterns of multimorbidity in primary care: a systematic review of observational studies.PloS one · 2014Pooled it
- Managing patients with multimorbidity: systematic review of interventions in primary care and community settings.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2012Pooled it
- Trial
- A Digital Platform to Support Self-management of Multiple Chronic Conditions (ProACT): Findings in Relation to Engagement During a One-Year Proof-of-Concept Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2021Trial
- Pattern and severity of multimorbidity among patients attending primary care settings in Odisha, India.PloS one · 2017Trial
- Codeveloping a Set of Quality of Care Indicators for People Living With Multiple Long-Term Conditions in Primary Care: Protocol for a Modified RAND/UCLA Study.JMIR research protocols · 2026Article
- Article
- The Role of Advanced Practice Nurses in the Care of Multimorbid and Complex Chronically Ill Young and Middle-Aged Adults in Hospital Settings-Perspectives on Experience of APNs: A Qualitative Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Risk of Edentulism Among Older Adults with Multimorbidity.Dentistry journal · 2026Article
- Observational
- Air pollution exposure and multimorbidity patterns: evidence from a national cohort study in China.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Retrospective analysis of multimorbidity, polypharmacy, and drug interactions on postoperative outcomes in oral squamous cell carcinoma patients.Clinical oral investigations · 2025Article
- Development and validation of a Japanese version of the multimorbidity treatment burden questionnaire.Scientific reports · 2025Article
60 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPrimary care increasingly deals with patients with multimorbidity, but relevant evidence-based interventions are scarce. Knowledge about multimorbidity over time is required to inform the development of effective interventions.
aimThis review identifies prospective cohort studies of multimorbidity in primary care to determine: their nature, scope and key findings; the methodologies used; and gaps in knowledge.
designSystematic review.
methodStudies were identified by searching electronic databases, reviewing citations, and writing to authors. Searches were limited to adult populations with no restrictions on publication date or language. In total, 996 articles were identified and screened.
resultsOf the 996 articles, six detailing five completed prospective cohort studies were selected as appropriate. Three of the studies were undertaken in the US and two in The Netherlands; none was nationally representative. The main focus of the studies was: healthcare utilisation and/or costs (n = 3); patients' physical functioning (n = 1); and risk factors for developing multimorbidity (n = 1). The conditions that were included varied widely. The findings of these studies showed that multimorbidity increased healthcare costs (n = 2), inpatient admission (n = 1), death rates (n = 1), and service use (n = 3), and reduced physical functioning (n = 1). One study identified psychosocial risk factors for multimorbidity. No study used random sampling, sample sizes were relatively small (414-3745 patients at baseline), and study duration was relatively short (1-4 years). No study focused on prevalence, treatment use, patient safety, service models, cultural or socioeconomic factors, and patient experience, and no study collected qualitative data.
conclusionFew longitudinal studies based in primary care have investigated multimorbidity. Further large, long-term prospective studies are required to inform healthcare commissioning, planning, and delivery.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.