Associations between Multimorbidity and Physical Performance in Older Chinese Adults

Shan-Shan Yao, Xiangfei Meng, Gui-Ying Cao, Zi-Ting Huang, Zi-Shuo Chen, Ling Han, Kaipeng Wang, He-Xuan Su, Yan Luo, Yonghua Hu and Beibei Xu
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Shan-Shan Yao: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China
Xiangfei Meng: Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A1A1, Canada
Gui-Ying Cao: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China
Zi-Ting Huang: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China
Zi-Shuo Chen: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China
Ling Han: Department of Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
Kaipeng Wang: Graduate School of Social Work, University of Denver, Denver, CO 80208, USA
He-Xuan Su: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China
Yan Luo: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China
Yonghua Hu: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China
Beibei Xu: Medical Informatics Center, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 12, 1-14

Abstract: Background : Evidence on the association between physical performance and multimorbidity is scarce in Asia. This study aimed to identify multimorbidity patterns and their association with physical performance among older Chinese adults. Methods : Individuals aged ≥60 years from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study 2011–2015 ( N = 10,112) were included. Physical performance was measured by maximum grip strength (kg) and average gait speed (m/s) categorized as fast (>0.8 m/s), median (>0.6–0.8 m/s), and slow (≤0.6 m/s). Multimorbidity patterns were explored using exploratory factor analysis. Generalized estimating equation was conducted. Results : Four multimorbidity patterns were identified: cardio–metabolic, respiratory, mental–sensory, and visceral–arthritic. An increased number of chronic conditions was associated with decreased normalized grip strength (NGS). Additionally, the highest quartile of factor scores for cardio–metabolic (β = −0.06; 95% Confidence interval (CI) = −0.07, −0.05), respiratory (β = −0.03; 95% CI = −0.05, −0.02), mental–sensory (β = −0.04; 95% CI = −0.05, −0.03), and visceral–arthritic (β = −0.04; 95% CI = −0.05, −0.02) patterns were associated with lower NGS compared with the lowest quartile. Participants with ≥4 chronic conditions were 2.06 times more likely to have a slow gait speed. Furthermore, the odds ratios for the highest quartile of factor scores of four patterns with slow gait speed compared with the lowest quartile ranged from 1.26–2.01. Conclusion : Multimorbidity was related to worse physical performance, and multimorbidity patterns were differentially associated with physical performance. A shift of focus from single conditions to the requirements of a complex multimorbid population was needed for research, clinical guidelines, and health-care services. Grip strength and gait speed could be targeted to routinely measure clinical performance among older adults with multimorbidity, especially mental–sensory disorders, in clinical settings.

Keywords: multimorbidity; grip strength; gait speed; physical performance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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