Comorbidity of common chronic diseases among the elderly in China

Objective To investigate the comorbidity of common chronic diseases among Chinese elderly.Methods The data on five common chronic diseases(hypertension,diabetes,chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,asthma,and tumor) for 19 525 residents aged 60 years and over were extracted from the database of Chronic Non-communicable Disease and Risk Factor Surveillance-2010 and complex weighting method was adopted in data analyses.Results Among the elderly,74.20% had at least one of the 5 common chronic diseases,and the prevalence of the diseases was higher in the female elderly(75.32%) than in the males(73.01%)(χ2=6.8866,P=0.0087)and the prevalence was higher in the urban elderly(75.76%) than in the rural elderly(72.96%)(χ2=6.8059,P=0.0091).Among the 14 316 elderly with chronic diseases,the ratio of suffering from one,two,and three or more chronic diseases were 71.94%,24.27%,and 3.79%,respectively.The comorbidity was remarkably serious among the elderly with older age,having higher education,and living in urban areas or eastern regions.Conclusion Among the residents aged 60 years and over,the prevalence of common chronic disease is very high and the comorbidity of the five common chronic diseases is also very serious.