Prevalence of multimorbidity according to demographic characteristics
| Percentage of patients with multimorbidity (95% CI) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristic | Percentage of healthy adults (no chronic health problems) (95% CI) | ≥2 chronic health problems | p Value | ≥3 chronic health problems | p Value | Mean number of chronic health problems (95% CI) [median] |
| Sex | 0.015 | 0.003 | ||||
| Women | 14.6 (12.7 to 16.6) | 70.8 (68.3 to 73.3) | 54.7 (51.9 to 57.4) | 3.3 (3.1 to 3.4) [3.0] | ||
| Men | 10.1 (7.9 to 12.3) | 75.9 (72.8 to 79.1) | 61.6 (58.0 to 65.2) | 3.6 (3.4 to 3.8) [3.0] | ||
| Age (years) | <0.001 | <0.001 | ||||
| 18–34 | 47.6 (41.8 to 53.4) | 24.7 (19.7 to 29.7) | 12.8 (9.0 to 16.7) | 1.0 (0.9 to 1.2) [1.0] | ||
| 35–49 | 18.3 (14.4 to 22.2) | 58.5 (53.6 to 63.4) | 32.0 (27.3 to 36.6) | 2.1 (1.9 to 2.3) [2.0] | ||
| 50–64 | 6.4 (4.4 to 8.3) | 81.2 (78.1 to 84.3) | 64.5 (60.7 to 68.3) | 3.6 (3.4 to 3.8) [3.0] | ||
| ≥65 | 1.7 (0.1 to 2.7) | 92.6 (90.7 to 94.6) | 82.7 (79.9 to 85.5) | 4.9 (4.7 to 5.1) [5.0] | ||
| Residence area | <0.001 | <0.001 | ||||
| Urban | 15.5 (13.3 to 17.7) | 68.3 (65.5 to 71.1) | 51.3 (48.3 to 54.3) | 3.1 (3.0 to 3.3) [3.0] | ||
| Rural | 10.2 (8.2 to 12.1) | 77.5 (74.9 to 80.2) | 63.7 (60.7 to 66.8) | 3.7 (3.5 to 3.9) [3.0] | ||
| Marital status | <0.001 | <0.001 | ||||
| Married/cohabiting | 10.8 (9.2 to 12.5) | 75.4 (73.1 to 77.7) | 58.7 (56.1 to 61.3) | 3.4 (3.3 to 3.6) [3.0] | ||
| Single | 34.4 (28.4 to 40.4) | 41.0 (34.8 to 47.2) | 28.3 (22.6 to 34.0) | 1.9 (1.6 to 2.2) [1.0] | ||
| Widowed | 3.0 (0.8 to 5.2) | 92.2 (88.8 to 95.7) | 81.9 (76.9 to 86.9) | 5.0 (4.6 to 5.3) [5.0] | ||
| Separated/divorced | 13.6 (7.7 to 19.6) | 68.2 (60.1 to 76.2) | 50.8 (42.1 to 59.4) | 3.0 (2.6 to 3.4) [3.0] | ||
| Living arrangements | <0.001 | <0.001 | ||||
| Couple | 11.8 (9.9 to 13.6) | 75.2 (72.7 to 77.8) | 59.0 (56.1 to 61.9) | 3.4 (3.3 to 3.6) [3.0] | ||
| Extended family | 17.3 (13.9 to 20.6) | 62.6 (58.2 to 66.9) | 48.2 (43.8 to 52.7) | 3.0 (2.7 to 3.2) [2.0] | ||
| Alone | 10.0 (6.5 to 13.5) | 80.3 (75.7 to 84.9) | 66.4 (61.0 to 71.9) | 4.0 (3.7 to 4.4) [4.0] | ||
| Other (including care home) | 15.5 (7.6 to 23.4) | 69.0 (59.0 to 79.1) | 51.2 (40.3 to 62.1) | 2.9 (2.4 to 3.4) [3.0] | ||
| Education | <0.001 | <0.001 | ||||
| Low level (less than 6 years) | 3.9 (2.7 to 5.1) | 89.3 (87.3 to 91.2) | 75.9 (73.2 to 78.6) | 4.5 (4.3 to 4.6) [4.0] | ||
| Medium level (at least 6 but not more than 9 years) | 14.6 (11.4 to 17.8) | 65.9 (61.6 to 70.2) | 48.7 (44.2 to 53.3) | 2.7 (2.5 to 2.9) [2.0] | ||
| High level (more than 9 years) | 27.6 (23.9 to 31.4) | 49.1 (44.9 to 53.3) | 31.3 (27.4 to 35.2) | 2.1 (1.9 to 2.2) [1.0] | ||
| Professional status | <0.001 | <0.001 | ||||
| Pensioner/retired | 1.9 (1.0 to 2.9) | 92.0 (90.2 to 93.9) | 81.2 (78.5 to 83.8) | 4.8 (4.6 to 5.0) [5.0] | ||
| Employed (full-time/part-time) | 20.5 (17.7 to 23.4) | 56.8 (53.3 to 60.2) | 37.9 (34.5 to 41.3) | 2.3 (2.1 to 2.4) [2.0] | ||
| Unemployed | 19.6 (14.2 to 25.0) | 65.1 (58.6 to 71.6) | 45.9 (39.1 to 52.7) | 2.7 (2.4 to 3.0) [2.0] | ||
| Housewife | 8.3 (3.3 to 13.2) | 81.0 (73.9 to 88.1) | 60.3 (51.5 to 69.2) | 3.4 (3.0 to 3.9) [3.0] | ||
| Student | 60.8 (46.9 to 74.7) | 13.7 (4.0 to 23.5) | 2.0 (0.0 to 5.9) | 0.5 (0.3 to 0.8) [0.0] | ||
| Monthly income | 0.018 | 0.070 | ||||
| ‘Just enough to make ends meet’ | 12.8 (10.8 to 14.8) | 72.4 (69.8 to 75.1) | 57.4 (54.4 to 60.3) | 3.4 (3.3 to 3.6) [3.0] | ||
| ‘Not enough to make ends meet’ | 11.7 (9.0 to 14.4) | 76.3 (72.8 to 79.9) | 59.9 (55.8 to 64.0) | 3.5 (3.3 to 3.7) [3.0] | ||
| ‘Some money left over’ | 15.6 (11.8 to 19.3) | 67.8 (62.9 to 72.6) | 52.2 (47.0 to 57.4) | 3.2 (2.9 to 3.4) [3.0] | ||