TABLE 1.
Descriptive characteristics of patients without multimorbidity and in the various multimorbidity groups (916 619 older people, Catalonia, 2012)
| Non‐multimorbidity (n = 63 534) | Multimorbidity (2‐4 diseases) (n = 268 836) | Multimorbidity (5‐9 diseases) (n = 463 709) | Multimorbidity (≥10 diseases) (n = 120 540) | All (N = 916 619) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sex, women, n (%) | 32 837 (51.68) | 142 427 (52.98) | 274 575 (59.21) | 79 292 (65.78) | 529 131 (57.73) |
| Age, median [IQR] | 71 [67‐78] | 72 [68‐79] | 75 [70‐81] | 78 [73‐83] | 75 [69‐81] |
| MEDEA Index, a n (%) | |||||
| Rural | 13 059 (21.96) | 58 325 (22.87) | 91 325 (21.20) | 19 540 (18.36) | 182 249 (21.40) |
| Q1 | 13 897 (23.37) | 47 821 (18.76) | 67 609 (15.70) | 15 464 (14.53) | 144 791 (17.00) |
| Q2 | 9894 (16.64) | 41 815 (16.40) | 68 563 (15.92) | 16 159 (15.18) | 136 431 (16.02) |
| Q3 | 8976 (15.10) | 40 866 (16.03) | 70 941 (16.47) | 17 439 (16.39) | 138 222 (16.23) |
| Q4 | 7666 (12.89) | 37 007 (14.51) | 69 998 (16.25) | 18 317 (17.21) | 132 988 (15.62) |
| Q5 | 5967 (10.04) | 29 139 (11.43) | 62 269 (14.46) | 19 508 (18.33) | 116 883 (13.73) |
| Number of drugs, n (%) | |||||
| 0 | 40 941 (64.44) | 45 992 (17.11) | 23 727 (5.12) | 3577 (2.97) | 114 237 (12.46) |
| 1 | 8239 (12.97) | 32 429 (12.06) | 15 654 (3.38) | 641 (0.53) | 56 963 (6.21) |
| 2‐4 | 11 496 (18.09) | 115 655 (43.02) | 119 778 (25.83) | 7932 (6.58) | 254 861 (27.80) |
| 5‐9 | 2703 (4.25) | 68 894 (25.63) | 235 384 (50.76) | 50 330 (41.75) | 357 311 (38.98) |
| ≥10 | 155 (0.24) | 5866 (2.18) | 69 166 (14.92) | 58 060 (48.17) | 133 247 (14.54) |
| Number of visits, n (%) | |||||
| 0 | 23 402 (36.83) | 15 814 (5.88) | 7522 (1.62) | 1207 (1.00) | 47 945 (5.23) |
| 1 | 9603 (15.11) | 15 991 (5.95) | 7609 (1.64) | 681 (0.56) | 33 884 (3.70) |
| 2‐4 | 16 241 (25.56) | 63 295 (23.54) | 46 966 (10.13) | 3937 (3.27) | 130 439 (14.23) |
| 5‐9 | 10 168 (16.00) | 93 326 (34.71) | 129 577 (27.94) | 16 278 (13.50) | 249 349 (27.20) |
| ≥10 | 4120 (6.48) | 80 410 (29.91) | 272 035 (58.67) | 98 437 (81.66) | 455 002 (49.64) |
| Chronic kidney disease, n (%) | 249 (0.39) | 15 619 (5.81) | 90 365 (19.49) | 47 523 (39.43) | 153 756 (16.77) |
| Chronic liver disease, n (%) | 810 (1.27) | 11 261 (4.19) | 33 438 (7.21) | 14 138 (11.73) | 59 647 (6.51) |
Note: All variables of the table showed a significant difference (P < .001) between groups.
a
MEDEA is a deprivation index measured in quintiles (Q), from Q1 (least deprived) to Q5 (most deprived). Missing values n = 65 055.