Multimorbidity among middle‐aged and older persons in urban China: Prevalence, characteristics and health service utilization

AIM: The knowledge on multimorbidity and its impact on healthcare systems is lacking in low- and middle-income countries. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of multimorbidity, and analyze the health service use of middle-aged and older persons with multimorbidity in urban China. METHODS: Study participants included 3737 urban residents aged ≥45 years from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study 2011. A total of 16 pre-specified self-reported chronic conditions were used to measure multimorbidity, which was defined as having two or more conditions. Logistic regression was used to analyze the characteristics and health service use of persons with multimorbidity. Analyses were weighted to adjust for sampling design and non-response. RESULTS: Of the study population, 51.9% were men and 20.1% were aged >70 years. Hypertension (33.1%) was the most prevalent condition, followed by arthritis (25.4%), digestive disease (18.7%), dyslipidemia (18.3%) and heart disease (17.7%). The prevalence of multimorbidity was 45.5% (95% CI 41.4-49.7%). Multivariate analyses showed that the prevalence of multimorbidity was significantly higher in respondents who are older and socioeconomically disadvantaged than that in their counterparts. Multimorbid patients used 72.7% of outpatient services and 77.3% of inpatient services. After controlling for demographic, socioeconomic, health behavior and health insurance factors, condition counts still had a positive relationship with outpatient or inpatient service use. CONCLUSIONS: The burden of multimorbidity is high among the middle-aged and older urban Chinese population. Management of multimorbidity therefore deserves more attention from health policymakers, providers and educators of health professionals in China and in other low- and middle-income countries. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2018; 18: 1447-1452.