Patient‐Centered Care for Older Adults with Multiple Chronic Conditions: A Stepwise Approach from the American Geriatrics Society

multimorbidity; guiding principles; comorbidity; older adults One of the greatest challenges in geriatrics is the provision of optimal care for older adults with multiple chronic conditions, or "multimorbidity." 1-3More than 50% of older adults have three or more chronic diseases, with distinctive cumulative effects for each individual. 4ltimorbidity is associated with higher rates of death, disability, adverse effects, institutionalization, use of healthcare resources, and poorer quality of life. 1 Comprehensive strategies and interventions for common syndromes and organization of care in this population show promise, but what the best clinical management approaches are remains unclear. 5st clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) focus on the management of a single disease, but CPG-based care may be cumulatively impractical, irrelevant, or even harmful for such individuals. 3,6CPG deficiencies are not based solely on shortcomings of guideline development and implementation. 3,7Older adults with multimorbidity are regularly excluded or underrepresented in trials and observational studies, which translates to less focus on older adults in meta-analyses, systematic reviews, and guidelines and affects appropriate interpretation of results.