55-PUB: Prevalence and Patterns of Multimorbidity among Elderly Aged 65 and above in the Hainan Island

Introduction: Studying multimorbidities in the elderly is vital for improving their health outcomes and quality of life. This study aims to determine the prevalence and patterns of multimorbidity among elderly aged 65 and above living in the Hainan Island.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study included a total of 1,025,831 participants based on a survey of chronic diseases in the elderly aged 65 and above. Nine chronic disease variables (Hypertension, Diabetes, CHD, Cerebral apoplexy, COPD, Chronic kidney disease, Tumor, Immune defect and Sever disability) were included in the study. Chi-square test and trend chi-square test were used to assess the differences in the prevalence of morbidity and multimorbidity by genders and age. Gephi was used for visualizing the network patterns of associative multimorbidities. Condensation cluster analysis was performed on the multimorbidity network matrix using UCINET.

Results: At least one chronic diseases and two chronic diseases coexisted in 71.28% and 30.54% participants. There is a greater prevalence in women than in men (53.8% vs 46.2%, P < 0.001). The most common combinations of two multimorbidities were hypertension & diabetes (7.78%), hypertension & stroke (2.21%), and hypertension & server disability (2.18%). Condensation cluster analysis revealed that the combined model of multimorbidity could be divided into 3 clusters (Hypertension + Diabetes, CHD + Cerebral apoplexy + COPD + Immune defect + Tumor + Sever disability and Chronic kidney disease ).

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that an integrated strategy of prevention, treatment and management should be developed to target different disease clusters.

Keywords: Multimorbidity; Elderly; Network analysis; Condensed subgroup