SynthesisPloS one2014
Prevalence, determinants and patterns of multimorbidity in primary care: a systematic review of observational studies.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 635 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
DESVELA Cohort. Analysis of the Role of Personal Skills as Determinants of Incidence of Morbidity, Lifestyles, Quality of Life, Use of Services and Mortality.
Affective Based Integrated Care for Better Quality of Life (TeNDER).Pilot Implementation. Site 1: Primary Care Madrid, Spain.
Who cites it
635 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Effectiveness of interventions for the management of multimorbidity in primary care and community settings: systematic review and meta-analysis.Family practice · 2025Pooled it
- Are Canadian Clinical Practice Guidelines Accounting for Adults With Multiple Chronic Diseases? A Systematic Review.Journal of evaluation in clinical practice · 2025Pooled it
- Group-delivered interventions for lowering blood pressure in hypertension: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2025Pooled it
- Use of hospital services by patients with chronic conditions in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Bulletin of the World Health Organization · 2023Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Economic evaluations of interventional opportunities for the management of mental-physical multimorbidity: a systematic review.BMJ open · 2023Pooled it
- Ethnic inequalities in multiple long-term health conditions in the United Kingdom: a systematic review and narrative synthesis.BMC public health · 2023Pooled it
- Trial
- Efficacy of a Blended Low-Intensity Internet-Delivered Psychological Program in Patients With Multimorbidity in Primary Care: Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Trial
- The feasibility of sharing digital audio-recordings of clinic visits online with older adults in primary care settings: A multisite trial.Patient education and counseling · 2025Trial
- Mi Puente (My Bridge) Care Transitions Program for Hispanic/Latino Adults with Multimorbidity: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of general internal medicine · 2023Trial
- Cardiometabolic comorbidity burden and low domain-specific health-promoting lifestyle scores among ethnic minority adults in Yunnan, China: A cross-sectional study.Preventive medicine reports · 2026Article
- An Epidemiology-Constrained Framework for Mechanistic Hypothesis Restriction and Prioritization in Complex Disease.Journal of evaluation in clinical practice · 2026Article
- Slowing disease accumulation but persistent complexity: population-level multimorbidity dynamics in old age.Age and ageing · 2026Article
- The Number of Chronic Conditions and Domain-Specific Movement Behaviours Among People Aged ≥15 Years: Findings from the 2019 Serbian National Health Survey.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Article
- Association Between the Presence of Multimorbidity and Sociodemographic Factors and Health Care Utilization in the Adult Population of Serbia: A National Health Survey.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Classification and Severity Assessment of Obesity in Clinical Risk Prediction of Multimorbidity Trajectories.Clinical obesity · 2026Article
- Rethinking Symptom Fluctuation in Multimorbidity: A Dynamic Systems Framework From Primary Care.Journal of evaluation in clinical practice · 2026Article
- Multimorbidity Patterns and Mortality Risk in a National Sample of US Adults Identified Using Latent Class Analysis.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
575 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
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
introductionMultimorbidity is a major concern in primary care. Nevertheless, evidence of prevalence and patterns of multimorbidity, and their determinants, are scarce. The aim of this study is to systematically review studies of the prevalence, patterns and determinants of multimorbidity in primary care.
methodsSystematic review of literature published between 1961 and 2013 and indexed in Ovid (CINAHL, PsychINFO, Medline and Embase) and Web of Knowledge. Studies were selected according to eligibility criteria of addressing prevalence, determinants, and patterns of multimorbidity and using a pretested proforma in primary care. The quality and risk of bias were assessed using STROBE criteria. Two researchers assessed the eligibility of studies for inclusion (Kappa= 0.86).
resultsWe identified 39 eligible publications describing studies that included a total of 70,057,611 patients in 12 countries. The number of health conditions analysed per study ranged from 5 to 335, with multimorbidity prevalence ranging from 12.9% to 95.1%. All studies observed a significant positive association between multimorbidity and age (odds ratio [OR], 1.26 to 227.46), and lower socioeconomic status (OR, 1.20 to 1.91). Positive associations with female gender and mental disorders were also observed. The most frequent patterns of multimorbidity included osteoarthritis together with cardiovascular and/or metabolic conditions.
conclusionsWell-established determinants of multimorbidity include age, lower socioeconomic status and gender. The most prevalent conditions shape the patterns of multimorbidity. However, the limitations of the current evidence base means that further and better designed studies are needed to inform policy, research and clinical practice, with the goal of improving health-related quality of life for patients with multimorbidity. Standardization of the definition and assessment of multimorbidity is essential in order to better understand this phenomenon, and is a necessary immediate step.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.