Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2005 May-Jun;3(3):223-8.
doi: 10.1370/afm.272.

Prevalence of multimorbidity among adults seen in family practice

Martin Fortin  1 , Gina Bravo, Catherine Hudon, Alain Vanasse, Lise Lapointe
Affiliations

Prevalence of multimorbidity among adults seen in family practice

Martin Fortin et al. Ann Fam Med. 2005 May-Jun.

Abstract

Purpose: There are few valid data that describe the extent of multimorbidity in primary care patients. The purpose of this study was to estimate its prevalence in family practice patients by counting the number of chronic medical conditions and using a measure that considers the severity of these conditions, the Cumulative Illness Rating Scale (CIRS).

Methods: The study was carried out in the Saguenay region (Québec, Canada) in 2003. The participation of adult patients from 21 family physicians was solicited during consecutive consultation periods. A research nurse reviewed medical records and extracted the data regarding chronic illnesses. For each chronic condition, a severity rating was determined in accordance with the CIRS scoring guidelines.

Results: The sample consisted of 320 men and 660 women. Overall, 9 of 10 patients had more than 1 chronic condition. The prevalence of having 2 or more medical conditions in the 18- to 44-year, 45- to 64-year, and 65-year and older age-groups was, respectively, 68%, 95%, and 99% among women and 72%, 89%, and 97% among men. The mean number of conditions and mean CIRS score also increased significantly with age.

Conclusions: Whether measured by simply counting the number of conditions or using the CIRS, the prevalence of multimorbidity is quite high and increases significantly with age in both men and women. Patients with multimorbidity seen in family practice represent the rule rather than the exception.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Number of chronic health problems per patient in the study population.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. van den Akker M, Buntinx F, Roos S, Knottnerus JA. Comorbidity or multimorbidity: what’s in a name? A review of the literature. Eur J Gen Pract. 1996;2:65–70.
    1. Fortin M, Lapointe L, Hudon C, Vanasse A. Multimorbidity in medical literature: Is it commonly researched? Can Fam Physician. 2005;51:244–245. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Anderson GF. Partnership for solutions. Chronic Conditions: Making the Case for Ongoing Care. 2002. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and John Hopkins University. Available at: http://www.partnershipfor-solutions.org/. Accessed December 2003.
    1. van den Akker M, Buntinx F, Metsemakers JF, Roos S, Knottnerus JA. Multimorbidity in general practice: prevalence, incidence, and determinants of co-occurring chronic and recurrent diseases. J Clin Epidemiol. 1998;51:367–375. - PubMed
    1. Metsemakers JFM, Höppener O, Knottnerus JA, Kocken RJJ, Limonard CBG. Computerized health information in the Netherlands: a registration network of family practices. Br J Gen Pract. 1992;42:102–106. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources