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
. 2023 Feb 17:13:26335565231157626.
doi: 10.1177/26335565231157626. eCollection 2023 Jan-Dec.

Mortality among Canadian population with multimorbidity: A retrospective cohort study

Xiang Xiao  1 , Jeremy Beach  1   2 , Ambikaipakan Senthilselvan  1
Affiliations

Mortality among Canadian population with multimorbidity: A retrospective cohort study

Xiang Xiao et al. J Multimorb Comorb. .

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the effect of multimorbidity and the joint effect of chronic diseases on all-cause mortality among subjects aged 35 years and above.

Study design: Population-based retrospective cohort study.

Methods: Multimorbidity was defined by the respondent's self-report of having two or more chronic diseases of the nine considered. The Canadian Community Health Surveys conducted in 2003/2004, 2005/2006 and 2007 to 2014 were linked with the Canadian Vital Statistics Death Database to examine the association between multimorbidity and all-cause mortality in subjects aged 35 years and above. Cox's proportional hazards models were used to estimate risk of multimorbidity on death after adjusting for the confounders in three age groups.

Results: Multimorbidity had an increased risk of death in all three age groups with the youngest having the highest risk after adjusting for potential confounders (35 to 54 years: hazard ratio (HR) = 3.77, 95% CI: 3.04, 4.67; 55 to 64 years: HR = 2.64, 95% CI: 2.36, 2.95; 65 years and above: HR = 1.71; 95% CI:1.63,1.80). Subjects with cancer had the highest risk of death in the three age groups. When the interactions between chronic diseases were considered, subjects with COPD and diabetes had a significantly increased risk of death in comparison to those without COPD or diabetes in the 55 to 64 years. (HR = 2.59, 95% CI: 2.01, 3.34).

Conclusions: Prevention of multimorbidity should be targeted not only in the older population but also in the younger populations. Synergistic effects of chronic diseases should be considered in the management of multimorbidities.

Keywords: Adults; chronic diseases; mortality; multimorbidity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Smoothed Kaplan-Meier curves of cumulative survival probability for subjects with and without multimorbidity by age group.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Lee JT, Hamid F, Pati S, et al. Impact of Noncommunicable Disease Multimorbidity on Healthcare Utilisation and Out-Of-Pocket Expenditures in Middle-Income Countries: Cross Sectional Analysis. PLoS One; 10. Epub ahead of print 8 July 2015. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0127199. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Fortin M, Stewart M, Poitras M-E, et al. A Systematic Review of Prevalence Studies on Multimorbidity: Toward a More Uniform Methodology. Ann Fam Med 2012; 10: 142–151. - PMC - PubMed
    1. van den Brink AMA, Gerritsen DL, Voshaar RCO, et al. Residents with mental–physical multimorbidity living in long-term care facilities: prevalence and characteristics. A systematic review. Int Psychogeriatr 2013; 25: 531–548. - PubMed
    1. Marengoni A, Angleman S, Melis R, et al. Aging with multimorbidity: A systematic review of the literature. Ageing Res Rev 2011; 10: 430–439. - PubMed
    1. Menotti A, Mulder I, Nissinen A, et al. Prevalence of morbidity and multimorbidity in elderly male populations and their impact on 10-year all-cause mortality: The FINE study (Finland, Italy, Netherlands, Elderly). J Clin Epidemiol 2001; 54: 680–686. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources