Chronic diseases: what happens when they come in multiples?

摘要

Multimorbidity is the coexistence of two or more chronic diseases in an individual.1 Prevalence studies indicate that it is the normal state of affairs, especially in patients over the age of 65 years.1 A smaller sub-group of patients are more severely affected by multimorbidity as the combination and severity of their conditions results in significant loss of function, poor quality of life, and frequent hospital admissions. There is a need to examine the health care of patients with multimorbidity, as they often receive fragmented specialist care which does not meet their needs, or indeed support their professional carers, especially in primary care.