ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2023
Age, sex, and socioeconomic differences in multimorbidity measured in four ways: UK primary care cross-sectional analysis.
Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Pooled it
- Sociodemographic intersections and risk of multiple long-term conditions: A systematic review.PloS one · 2025Pooled it
- Reporting and representation of underserved groups in intervention studies for patients with multiple long-term conditions: a systematic review.Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine · 2024Pooled it
- Multimorbidity and frailty are associated with poorer SARS-CoV-2-related outcomes: systematic review of population-based studies.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2024Pooled it
- Combining polygenic risk scores to understand genetic liability to physical-mental health multimorbidity in UK Biobank.Human molecular genetics · 2026Article
- Excluded by design: a qualitative study of inequalities in health and social care innovation.International journal for equity in health · 2026Article
- Effects of household and neighbourhood attributes on four definitions of multimorbidity: a comparative multilevel analysis of linked clinical and census data of Wales.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Variation in multimorbidity estimates due to clinical coding: a cross-sectional study of 7.2 million adults in England.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Primary care and community interventions for multimorbidity involving depression or anxiety: systematic review with meta-analysis.BMJ medicine · 2026Article
- Impact of COVID-19 lockdown on methadone and buprenorphine prescriptions in England primary cares: an interrupted time series analysis.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- Measuring individual and community capacity factors in people with multimorbidity and exploring associations with health outcomes.BMC medicine · 2025Article
- Adverse childhood experiences as a risk factor for depression-overweight comorbidity in adolescence and young adulthood.European journal of public health · 2025Article
- Robustly measuring multimorbidity using disparate linked datasets.Communications medicine · 2025Article
- Prevalence and patterns of pre-existing multimorbidity in pregnancy in Northern Ireland: a population-based, retrospective study using linked routinely collected healthcare data.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- The Multimorbidity Questionnaire (MMQ1): English translation and validation of a Danish patient reported outcome measure for quality of life in people with multiple long-term conditions in a cross-sectional survey.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2025Article
- Enhancing the experience and outcomes of children with complex care needs in acute paediatric settings: a realist review protocol.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Impact of household size and co-resident multimorbidity on unplanned hospitalisation and transition to care home.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Depression and physical multimorbidity: A cohort study of physical health condition accrual in UK Biobank.PLoS medicine · 2025Article
- Multimorbidity clusters and their associations with health-related quality of life in two UK cohorts.BMC medicine · 2025Article
- Article
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Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMultimorbidity poses major challenges to healthcare systems worldwide. Definitions with cut-offs in excess of ≥2 long-term conditions (LTCs) might better capture populations with complexity but are not standardised.
aimTo examine variation in prevalence using different definitions of multimorbidity. DESIGN AND
settingCross-sectional study of 1 168 620 people in England.
methodComparison of multimorbidity (MM) prevalence using four definitions: MM2+ (≥2 LTCs), MM3+ (≥3 LTCs), MM3+ from 3+ (≥3 LTCs from ≥3 International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision chapters), and mental-physical MM (≥2 LTCs where ≥1 mental health LTC and ≥1 physical health LTC are recorded). Logistic regression was used to examine patient characteristics associated with multimorbidity under all four definitions.
resultsMM2+ was most common (40.4%) followed by MM3+ (27.5%), MM3+ from 3+ (22.6%), and mental-physical MM (18.9%). MM2+, MM3+, and MM3+ from 3+ were strongly associated with oldest age (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 58.09, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 56.13 to 60.14; aOR 77.69, 95% CI = 75.33 to 80.12; and aOR 102.06, 95% CI = 98.61 to 105.65; respectively), but mental-physical MM was much less strongly associated (aOR 4.32, 95% CI = 4.21 to 4.43). People in the most deprived decile had equivalent rates of multimorbidity at a younger age than those in the least deprived decile. This was most marked in mental-physical MM at 40-45 years younger, followed by MM2+ at 15-20 years younger, and MM3+ and MM3+ from 3+ at 10-15 years younger. Females had higher prevalence of multimorbidity under all definitions, which was most marked for mental-physical MM.
conclusionEstimated prevalence of multimorbidity depends on the definition used, and associations with age, sex, and socioeconomic position vary between definitions. Applicable multimorbidity research requires consistency of definitions across studies.
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