Multimorbidity Clusters in the Oldest Old: Results from the EpiChron Cohort

Ignatios Ioakeim-Skoufa (), Mercedes Clerencia-Sierra, Aida Moreno-Juste (), Carmen Elías de Molins Peña, Beatriz Poblador-Plou, Mercedes Aza-Pascual-Salcedo, Francisca González-Rubio, Alexandra Prados-Torres and Antonio Gimeno-Miguel
Additional contact information
Ignatios Ioakeim-Skoufa: WHO Collaborating Centre for Drug Statistics Methodology, Department of Drug Statistics, Division of Health Data and Digitalisation, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, NO-0213 Oslo, Norway
Mercedes Clerencia-Sierra: EpiChron Research Group, Aragon Health Sciences Institute (IACS), IIS Aragón, Miguel Servet University Hospital, ES-50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Aida Moreno-Juste: EpiChron Research Group, Aragon Health Sciences Institute (IACS), IIS Aragón, Miguel Servet University Hospital, ES-50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Carmen Elías de Molins Peña: Aragon Health Service (SALUD), Miguel Servet University Hospital, ES-50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Beatriz Poblador-Plou: EpiChron Research Group, Aragon Health Sciences Institute (IACS), IIS Aragón, Miguel Servet University Hospital, ES-50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Mercedes Aza-Pascual-Salcedo: EpiChron Research Group, Aragon Health Sciences Institute (IACS), IIS Aragón, Miguel Servet University Hospital, ES-50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Francisca González-Rubio: EpiChron Research Group, Aragon Health Sciences Institute (IACS), IIS Aragón, Miguel Servet University Hospital, ES-50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Alexandra Prados-Torres: EpiChron Research Group, Aragon Health Sciences Institute (IACS), IIS Aragón, Miguel Servet University Hospital, ES-50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Antonio Gimeno-Miguel: EpiChron Research Group, Aragon Health Sciences Institute (IACS), IIS Aragón, Miguel Servet University Hospital, ES-50009 Zaragoza, Spain

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 16, 1-15

Abstract: Multimorbidity is challenging for both patients and healthcare systems due to its increasing prevalence and high impact on people’s health and well-being. The risk of multimorbidity increases with age, but there is still more to discover regarding the clinical profile of the oldest old. In this study, we used information from the EpiChron Cohort Study to identify multimorbidity patterns in individuals who died during the period 2010–2019 at the ages of 80–89, 90–99, and ≥100. This cohort links the demographic, clinical, and drug dispensation information of public health system users in Aragón, Spain. We saw a significantly lower number of chronic diseases and drugs and a lower prevalence of polypharmacy in centenarians compared to those aged 80–99. K-means clustering revealed different multimorbidity clusters by sex and age group. We observed clusters of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, obstructive pulmonary conditions, and neoplasms, amongst other profiles. One in three octogenarian women had a metabolic pattern (diabetes, dyslipidaemia, and other endocrine–metabolic disorders) with the highest number of diseases (up to seven) and prevalence of polypharmacy (64%). We observed clusters of dementia and genitourinary disorders in individuals on medication with anticholinergic activity. Our study offers an opportunity to better understand the urgency of adequately addressing multimorbidity in our older adults.

Keywords: aged; electronic health records; epidemiology; cluster; clustering; multimorbidity; multiple chronic conditions; noncommunicable diseases; public health; routinely collected health data (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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