COMORBIDITY AND MULTIMORBIDITY AMONG ADULT PATIENTS IN ALBANIA

Background : Our aim was to assess the prevalence and “predictors” of comorbidity and multimorbidity in adult patients in Albania, a former communist country in the Western Balkans. Methods : This was a case-series study conducted during August 2013–June 2014 including 974 patients (46.6% men aged 61.2±13.8 years and 53.4% women aged 61.3±13.1 years) admitted at the Service of Internal Medicine and Hypertension, University Hospital Center “Mother Teresa”, Tirana. Data on socio-demographic factors, lifestyle characteristics and a detailed clinical profile was collected for all study participants. Binary logistic regression was used to assess the association between comorbidity and multimorbidity with socio-demographic characteristics and lifestyle factors.    Results : About 54% of the patients were ≥61 years old; about 38% of participants were residing in Tirana; and about 46% of the patients were currently employed. Overall, the prevalence of smoking was 16% (30.4% in men vs. 3.5% in women, P Conclusion : T his study informs about the prevalence and selected determinants of comorbidity and multimorbidity among Albanian hospitalized patients. Our findings indicate that the burden of comorbidity and multimorbidity is high in the Albanian patients, especially among the older people. Future studies should estimate the magnitude and distribution of comorbidity and multimorbidity in the general population of Albania.   Keywords: Albania, comorbidity, concomitant disease, internal medicine, multimorbidity.