Prevalence and factors associated with multimorbidity among older adults in Malaysia: a population-based cross-sectional study
Sazlina Shariff Ghazali, Zamtira Seman, Nabilah Hanis Zainuddin, Mohd Azahadi Omar, Rajini Sooryanarayana, Suthahar Ariaratnam, Noorlaili Mohd Tohit, Bee Kiau Ho, Ambigga Krishnapillai, Sheleaswani Inche Zainal Abidin
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence and factors associated with multimorbidity among community-dwelling older adults in Malaysia. DESIGN: A population-based cross-sectional study. SETTING: 13 states and 3 Federal Territories in Malaysia. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 3966 adults aged 60 years and above were extracted from the nationwide National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) 2018 data set. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Multimorbidity was defined as co-occurrence of at least two known chronic non-communicable diseases in the same individual. The chronic diseases included hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, dyslipidaemia and cancer. RESULTS: The prevalence of multimorbidity among Malaysian older adults was 40.6% (95% CI: 37.9 to 43.3). The factors associated with multimorbidity were those aged 70-79 years (adjusted OR (AOR)=1.30; 95% CI=1.04 to 1.63; p=0.019), of Indian (AOR=1.69; 95% CI=1.14 to 2.52; p=0.010) and Bumiputera Sarawak ethnicities (AOR=1.81; 95% CI=1.14 to 2.89; p=0.013), unemployed (AOR=1.53; 95% CI=1.20 to 1.95; p=0.001), with functional limitation from activities of daily livings (AOR=1.66; 95% CI=1.17 to 2.37; p=0.005), physically inactive (AOR=1.28; 95% CI=1.03 to 1.60; p=0.026), being overweight (AOR=1.62; 95% CI=1.11 to 2.36; p=0.014), obese (AOR=1.88; 95% CI=1.27 to 2.77; p=0.002) and with abdominal obesity (AOR=1.52; 95% CI=1.11 to 2.07; p=0.009). CONCLUSION: This study highlighted that multimorbidity was prevalent among older adults in the community. Thus, there is a need for future studies to evaluate preventive strategies to prevent or delay multimorbidity among older adults in order to promote healthy and productive ageing.