ArticlePloS one2015
Multimorbidity Patterns in Elderly Primary Health Care Patients in a South Mediterranean European Region: A Cluster Analysis.
Article in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05264207 (Nursing Students' Visits to Older Adults With Multiple Chronic Conditions), which is not on this map. Cited by 36 papers, 5 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.
Nursing Students' Visits to Older Adults With Multiple Chronic Conditions: Effects on Self-care and Other Related Variables (VISITAME)
Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 82 citations in OpenAlex.
- Patterns of multimorbidity, their outcomes and analytical methods for their determination: a systematic review.BMC public health · 2026Pooled it
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of disease clusters in multimorbidity.Nature communications · 2025Pooled it
- Social determinants of multimorbidity patterns: A systematic review.Frontiers in public health · 2023Pooled it
- Do replicable profiles of multimorbidity exist? Systematic review and synthesis.European journal of epidemiology · 2019Pooled it
- Underlying mechanisms of complex interventions addressing the care of older adults with multimorbidity: a realist review.BMJ open · 2019Pooled it
- Trial
- Detecting multimorbidity patterns in Alzheimer's disease using unsupervised machine learning: A nationwide emergency department study (2007-2022).Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2026Article
- Impact of multimorbidity on change in quality of life in a multi-ethnic Asian population: a longitudinal study.Health and quality of life outcomes · 2026Article
- Detecting comorbidity patterns in rare disease patients with machine learning.Frontiers in epidemiology · 2026Article
- A multidomain early warning model for 12-month adverse outcomes in older adults with multimorbidity: a risk-stratified public health approach.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Using electronic health records to understand multimorbidity in older people: a scoping review.European geriatric medicine · 2025Article
- Temporal multimorbidity patterns and cluster identification: a longitudinal analysis of administrative data.BMC medicine · 2025Article
- Sex-Specific Multimorbidity-Multibehaviour Patterns in Primary Care Populations.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Observational
- Article
- Interactions between patterns of multimorbidity and functional status among hospitalized older patients: a novel approach using cluster analysis and association rule mining.Journal of translational medicine · 2024Article
- Identifying multi-resolution clusters of diseases in ten million patients with multimorbidity in primary care in England.Communications medicine · 2024Article
- Using Unsupervised Machine Learning Methods to Cluster Comorbidities in a Population-Based Cohort of Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis.Arthritis care & research · 2023Article
- Multimorbidity patterns in COVID-19 patients and their relationship with infection severity: MRisk-COVID study.PloS one · 2023Observational
- Social inequalities in multimorbidity patterns in Europe: A multilevel latent class analysis using the European Social Survey (ESS).SSM - population health · 2022Article
- Empiric segmentation of high-risk patients: a structured literature review.The American journal of managed care · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveThe purpose of this study was to identify clusters of diagnoses in elderly patients with multimorbidity, attended in primary care.
designCross-sectional study.
setting251 primary care centres in Catalonia, Spain.
participantsIndividuals older than 64 years registered with participating practices.
main outcome measuresMultimorbidity, defined as the coexistence of 2 or more ICD-10 disease categories in the electronic health record. Using hierarchical cluster analysis, multimorbidity clusters were identified by sex and age group (65-79 and ≥80 years).
results322,328 patients with multimorbidity were included in the analysis (mean age, 75.4 years [Standard deviation, SD: 7.4], 57.4% women; mean of 7.9 diagnoses [SD: 3.9]). For both men and women, the first cluster in both age groups included the same two diagnoses: Hypertensive diseases and Metabolic disorders. The second cluster contained three diagnoses of the musculoskeletal system in the 65- to 79-year-old group, and five diseases coincided in the ≥80 age group: varicose veins of the lower limbs, senile cataract, dorsalgia, functional intestinal disorders and shoulder lesions. The greatest overlap (54.5%) between the three most common diagnoses was observed in women aged 65-79 years.
conclusionThis cluster analysis of elderly primary care patients with multimorbidity, revealed a single cluster of circulatory-metabolic diseases that were the most prevalent in both age groups and sex, and a cluster of second-most prevalent diagnoses that included musculoskeletal diseases. Clusters unknown to date have been identified. The clusters identified should be considered when developing clinical guidance for this population.
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Registered trials
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