Prevalence and pattern of multimorbidity among adults in a primary care rural setting

Background: Multimorbidity has substantial impact on the health of the individual in terms of safety, quality of life and functional ability, but little is known about it from rural areas in developing countries. Hence the present study attempted to determine the prevalence and gender difference in multimorbidity from a rural area. Methods: A register based cross sectional study was done by retrieving data from the family health register of the rural health centre. Data on age, gender and all the morbidities, were collected. The most prevalent morbidities were presented as frequency and percentages, prevalence of multimorbidity were presented as dyads and triads. Multiple Logistic regression was done to find the age adjusted risk of gender on multimorbidity. Results: The prevalence of multimorbidity was 16.2% (13.05-19.35).The most prevalent morbidities were hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidaemia, visual impairment and thyroid in both males and females and most common dyad was hypertension and diabetes. Conclusion: In the context of lack of studies from this area, the findings of the study may help the health care providers to plan interventions. Further research has to be done to identify the risk factors of multimorbidity.