Network and Patterns of Multimorbidity among Middle-aged and Elderly Patients with Chronic Diseases in China

Liu Chang; Chen Mingsheng

Abstract：Objective:To explore multimorbidity network and patterns in middle-aged and elderly patients with chronic diseases,and to provide references for the management of multimorbidity in this population.Methods:Using data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study(CHARLS)2020,patients aged ≥45 years with chronic diseases were selected,Gephi was used to analyze the multiple chronic network.Results:The participates suffering from 2 or more chronic diseases accounted for 72.71％,female had higher prevalence of multimorbidity than male(73.42％and 70.74％,x2=13.789,P＜0.001).The most common comorbidity combinations were two and three chronic diseases coexisted.Stomach or other digestive diseases & arthritis or rheumatism(14.58％)was the top 1 pair pattern of 2 kinds of diseases combination.Hypertension & arthritis or rheumatism &stomach or other digestive diseases(6.65％)was the top 1 pattern of 3 kinds of diseases combination.Hypertension was the key diseases on the network of multimorbidity,with the strongest association with arthritis or rheumatism.Conclusion:There was a high prevalence of multimorbidity among middle-aged and elderly patients with chronic diseases in China,hypertension & arthritis or rheumatism was the most typical pattern of multimorbidity.Thus,more personalized and accurate strategies should be developed to prevent and control key chronic diseases according to characteristics of different groups.