Prevalence and Patterns of Multimorbidity among Elderly People in Rural Bangladesh : A Cross-sectional Study

• Data on multimorbidity among the elderly people in Bangladesh are lacking. This paper reports the prevalenceand distribution patterns of multimorbidity among the elderly people in rural Bangladesh. This crosssectionalstudy was conducted among persons aged ≥60 years in Matlab, Bangladesh. Information on theirdemographics and literacy was collected through interview in the home. Information about their assets wasobtained from a surveillance database. Physicians conducted clinical examinations at a local health centre.Two physicians diagnosed medical conditions, and two senior geriatricians then evaluated the same separately.Multimorbidity was defined as suffering from two or more of nine chronic medical conditions, suchas arthritis, stroke, obesity, signs of thyroid hypofunction, obstructive pulmonary symptoms, symptomsof heart failure, impaired vision, hearing impairment, and high blood pressure. The overall prevalence ofmultimorbidity among the study population was 53.8%, and it was significantly higher among women, illiterates,persons who were single, and persons in the non-poorest quintile. In multivariable logistic regressionanalyses, female sex and belonging to the non-poorest quintile were independently associated withan increased odds ratio of multimorbidity. The results suggest that the prevalence of multimorbidity is highamong the elderly people in rural Bangladesh. Women and the non-poorest group of the elderly people aremore likely than men and the poorest people to be affected by multimorbidity. The study sheds new lighton the need of primary care for the elderly people with multimorbidity in rural Bangladesh.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Folkhälsovetenskap, global hälsa, socialmedicin och epidemiologi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Cross-sectional studies

Elderly

Morbidity

Multimorbidity

Bangladesh

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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