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. 2021 Apr 21:14:1449-1455.
doi: 10.2147/IJGM.S309783. eCollection 2021.

Prevalence and Patterns of Comorbidity Among Middle-Aged and Elderly People in China: A Cross-Sectional Study Based on CHARLS Data

Zhao-Ya Fan  1 , Yuan Yang  2 , Chang-Hong Zhang  1 , Ruo-Yun Yin  1 , Lei Tang  1 , Fan Zhang  1
Affiliations

Prevalence and Patterns of Comorbidity Among Middle-Aged and Elderly People in China: A Cross-Sectional Study Based on CHARLS Data

Zhao-Ya Fan et al. Int J Gen Med. .

Abstract

Introduction: Under the background of the accelerated aging of the population, comorbidity in the elderly has gradually become a social problem. At present, the related studies on chronic diseases are mainly focused on a single disease. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of common chronic diseases, the conditions and patterns of comorbidity in middle-aged and elderly people in China.

Methods: We extracted the data from China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). A total of 14 diseases were included, and the prevalence was assessed by self-report. We calculate different disease combinations and perform descriptive statistics analysis of chronic disease and comorbidity status.

Results: Among the 6754 subjects, 2833 (42.0%) people had at least one chronic disease, and 1138 (17.0%) people had two or more diseases at the same time. The top three diseases of prevalence were hypertension (15.4%), arthritis or rheumatism (11.0%), and stomach or digestive diseases (9.3%). Common dual disease combinations were hypertension and dyslipidemia, hypertension and arthritis or rheumatism, arthritis or rheumatism and stomach or digestive diseases.

Conclusion: Comorbidity is common in the population, and the pattern of chronic disease comorbidity is complex. Hypertension exists in a variety of comorbidity patterns, and its screening and prevention should be strengthened.

Keywords: CHARLS; China; chronic diseases; comorbidity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Chronic diseases prevalence by age (A) and gender (B) among middle-aged and elderly Chinese.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Distribution of the number of patients with the disease.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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