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Prevalence and factors associated with multimorbidity among older adults in Malaysia: a population-based cross-sectional study

Shariff Ghazali S 1 , Seman Z 2 , Zainuddin NH 2 , Omar MA 2 , Sooryanarayana R 3 , Ariaratnam S 4 Show all authors , Mohd Tohit N 5 , Ho BK 6 , Krishnapillai AD 7 , Zainal Abidin SI 3

Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia sazlina@upm.edu.my
  • 2 Sector for Biostatistics and Data Repository, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Shah Alam, Malaysia
  • 3 Elderly Health Sector, Family Health Development Division, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Putrajaya, Malaysia
  • 4 Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Cawangan Selangor, Kampus Selayang, Batu Caves, Malaysia
  • 5 Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bandar Tun Razak, Cheras, Malaysia
  • 6 Klinik Kesihatan Bandar Botanik, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Bandar Botanic, Klang, Malaysia
  • 7 Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health, National Defense University of Malaysia, Kem Sg. Besi, Malaysia
BMJ Open, 2021 10 20;11(10):e052126.
PMID: 34670764 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-052126

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.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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