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
. 2024 Sep;20(9):6221-6231.
doi: 10.1002/alz.14117. Epub 2024 Jul 27.

Multimorbidity measures associated with cognitive function among community-dwelling older Chinese adults

Shuojia Wang  1   2 , Yilin Chen  1 , Lijiao Xiong  1 , Nana Jin  1   2 , Pengfei Zhao  1 , Zhen Liang  1 , Lixin Cheng  1 , Lin Kang  1
Affiliations

Multimorbidity measures associated with cognitive function among community-dwelling older Chinese adults

Shuojia Wang et al. Alzheimers Dement. 2024 Sep.

Abstract

Introduction: Older adults with multimorbidity are at high risk of cognitive impairment development. There is a lack of research on the associations between different multimorbidity measures and cognitive function among older Chinese adults living in the community.

Methods: We used the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey from 2002 to 2018 and included data on dementia-free participants aged ≥65 years. Multimorbidity measures included condition counts, multimorbidity patterns, and trajectories. The association of multimorbidity measures with cognitive function was examined by generalized estimating equation and linear and logistic regression models.

Results: Among 14,093 participants at baseline, 43.2% had multimorbidity. Multimorbidity patterns were grouped into cancer-inflammatory, cardiometabolic, and sensory patterns. Multimorbidity trajectories were classified as "onset-condition," "newly developing," and "severe condition." The Mini-Mental State Examination scores were significantly lower for participants with more chronic conditions, with cancer-inflammatory/cardiometabolic/sensory patterns, and with developing multimorbidity trajectories.

Discussion: Condition counts, sensory pattern, cardiometabolic pattern, cancer-inflammatory pattern, and multimorbidity developmental trajectories were prospectively associated with cognitive function.

Highlights: Elderly individuals with a higher number of chronic conditions were associated with lower MMSE scores in the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey data. MMSE scores were significantly lower for participants with specific multimorbidity patterns. Individuals with developing trajectories of multimorbidity were associated with lower MMSE scores and a higher risk of mild cognitive impairment.

Keywords: cognitive function; elderly; multimorbidity; pattern; trajectory.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest. Author disclosures are available in the supporting information.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Follow‐ups for different entrance years (a) and the inclusion and exclusion criteria (b) in the study.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Evolution of multimorbidity patterns of older adults with over 6 years.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Multimorbidity trajectories among 14,093 elderly. “Times (No.)” is defined as the sequence of follow‐up visits.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Mercer S, Furler J, Moffat K, et al. Multimorbidity: technical series on safer primary care. World Health Organization; 2016.
    1. Batstra L, Bos EH, Neeleman J. Quantifying psychiatric comorbidity. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2002;37(3):105‐111. doi: 10.1007/s001270200001 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Hu X, Huang J, Lv Y, Li G, Peng X. Status of prevalence study on multimorbidity of chronic disease in China: systematic review. Geriatr Gerontol Int. 2015;15(1):1‐10. doi: 10.1111/ggi.12340 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Wang HH, Wang JJ, Wong SY, et al. Epidemiology of multimorbidity in China and implications for the healthcare system: cross‐sectional survey among 162,464 community household residents in southern China. BMC Med. 2014;12:188. doi: 10.1186/s12916-014-0188-0 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Arokiasamy P, Uttamacharya U, Jain K, et al. The impact of multimorbidity on adult physical and mental health in low‐ and middle‐income countries: what does the study on global ageing and adult health (SAGE) reveal? BMC Med. 2015;13(1):178. doi: 10.1186/s12916-015-0402-8 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types