The DOI matches its Crossref record; 25 of the 27 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Prevalence and patterns of multimorbidity in Australia
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To estimate the prevalence and patterns of multimorbidity in a sample of patients attending general practice, in the population who attended general practice in 2005, and in the Australian population. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Secondary analyses of data from a study of prevalence of selected conditions (a substudy of the BEACH [Bettering the Evaluation And Care of Health] program); data were provided by 305 general practitioners for 9156 patients seen in July-November 2005, based on knowledge of the patient, patient self-report, and medical records. Listed conditions were classified according to the Cumulative Illness Rating Scale morbidity domains. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Prevalence of morbidity in each domain; prevalence of specific patterns of multimorbidity (defined as presence of morbidity in two or more domains). RESULTS: Prevalence of multimorbidity was estimated as 37.1% of surveyed patients, 29.0% of people who attended a GP in 2005, and 25.5% of the Australian population. Prevalence and complexity (number of domains present) increased with age: 83.2% of surveyed patients aged 75 years or older had multimorbidity, 58.2% had morbidity in three or more domains, and 33.4% in four or more. Prevalence of multimorbidity did not differ between the sexes. The most common morbidity combinations were arthritis/chronic back pain + vascular disease (15.0% of sample), a psychological problem + vascular disease (10.6%) and arthritis/chronic back pain + a psychological problem (10.6%). We estimate that 10.6% of people attending a GP in 2005 and 9.3% of the population have arthritis/chronic back pain + vascular disease (+/- other morbidity types studied), and this group accounted for about 15.2 million Medicare-claimed general practice encounters in 2005. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides the first insight into prevalence and patterns of multimorbidity in Australia. Knowledge of the common combinations of multimorbidity may help in planning the health services needed in the future by an ageing population with an increasing burden of multimorbidity.
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“Research suggests that multimorbidity is highly correlated with chronic pain, which is pain lasting longer than 3 months.”
From Investigating the effectiveness of an online acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) intervention versus a waiting list control condition on pain interference and quality of life in adults with chronic pain and multimorbidity: Protocol for a randomised controlled trial (2019) · cites this paper as [5]
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Charlson, M. E., Pompei, P., Ales, K. L., & MacKenzie, C. R. (1987) · Journal of Chronic Diseases · doi:10.1016/0021-9681(87)90171-8 · Cited by 49,742
Vogeli, C., Shields, A. E., Lee, T. A., Gibson, T. B., Marder, W. D., Weiss, K. B., & Blumenthal, D. (2007) · Journal of General Internal Medicine · doi:10.1007/s11606-007-0322-1 · Cited by 1,150
van den Akker, M., Buntinx, F., Metsemakers, J. F. M., Roos, S., & Knottnerus, J. A. (1998) · Journal of Clinical Epidemiology · doi:10.1016/s0895-4356(97)00306-5 · Cited by 1,022
Prevalence of multimorbidity among adults seen in family practice
Fortin, M. (2005) · The Annals of Family Medicine · doi:10.1370/afm.272 · Cited by 987
Relationship Between Multimorbidity and Health-Related Quality of Life of Patients in Primary Care
Fortin, M., Bravo, G., Hudon, C., Lapointe, L., Almirall, J., Dubois, M., & Vanasse, A. (2006) · Quality of Life Research · doi:10.1007/s11136-005-8661-z · Cited by 615
Multimorbidity's many challenges
Fortin, M., Soubhi, H., Hudon, C., Bayliss, E. A., & van den Akker, M. (2007) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.39201.463819.2c · Cited by 531
Defining chronic conditions for primary care with ICPC-2
O’Halloran, J., Miller, G. C., & Britt, H. C. (2004) · Family Practice · doi:10.1093/fampra/cmh407 · Cited by 337
Comorbidity and the Use of Primary Care and Specialist Care in the Elderly
Starfield, B. H. (2005) · The Annals of Family Medicine · doi:10.1370/afm.307 · Cited by 283
Bayliss, E. A., Ellis, J., & Steiner, J. F. (2005) · Health and Quality of Life Outcomes · doi:10.1186/1477-7525-3-51 · Cited by 277
Multimorbidity and quality of life: a closer look
Fortin, M., Dubois, M., Hudon, C., Soubhi, H., & Almirall, J. (2007) · Health and Quality of Life Outcomes · doi:10.1186/1477-7525-5-52 · Cited by 257
Research works printed but not linked: 4
- Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, 2006, Medicare Benefits Schedule book
- Feinstein AR, 1967, Clinical judgment
- Britt H, 2004, General practice activity in Australia 2003–04
- Britt H, 2007, General practice activity in Australia 2005–06
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Multimorbidity and cardiovascular disease: a perspective on low- and middle-income countries
Thienemann, F., Ntusi, N. A. B., Battegay, E., Mueller, B. U., & Cheetham, M. (2020) · Cardiovascular Diagnosis and Therapy · doi:10.21037/cdt.2019.09.09 · Cited by 34
Clarke, J., Proudfoot, J., & Ma, H. (2016) · JMIR Mental Health · doi:10.2196/mental.5131 · Cited by 26
Slattery, B. W., O’Connor, L. L., Haugh, S., Barrett, K., Francis, K., Dwyer, C. P., O’Higgins, S., Caes, L., Egan, J., & McGuire, B. E. (2019) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2016-012671 · Cited by 3
“Further, from the five most common disease triads identified in the same study, chronic pain was involved in three of these combinations.(5) Boyd and Fortin(1) noted that if a person had one chronic condition they were quite likely to also have another.”
Background
Metadata
- Authors
- Britt, H. C., Harrison, C. M., Miller, G. C., & Knox, S. A.
- Affiliations
- The University of Sydney (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Britt, Helena C
- Venue
- Medical Journal of Australia
- Publisher
- AMPCo
- Published
- 2008-07
- Volume
- 189
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 72-77
- ISSN
- 0025-729X (ISSN-L)
- 1326-5377
- OpenAlex
- W2234006291
- Cited by
- 402
- References
- 27
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 22 · 2021: 32 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 25 · 2018: 31 · 2017: 34 · 2016: 26 · 2015: 34 · 2014: 30 · 2013: 32 · 2012: 27
- FWCI
- 11.63
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- The Medical Journal of Australia (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Johns Hopkins University
- Australian Government
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Chronic Disease Management Strategies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Geriatrics and Gerontology › Pharmaceutical Practices and Patient Outcomes
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Family Practice › Primary Care and Health Outcomes
- Keywords
- multimorbidity, prevalence, multimorbidity patterns, general practice, Cumulative Illness Rating Scale, arthritis, chronic back pain, vascular disease, mental illness, population aging, Australia
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Australia, Family Practice, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Patients, Comorbidity, Prevalence
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