Table 1.

Study characteristics of studies included in the systematic review

Author	Country/region	Inclusion criteria	Study design	Survey/source of data	Sampling characteristics	Field year	Sample size	Age range (years)	Data collection	No of NCDs	Multi-morbidity definition	Prevalence (%)	Quality of included studies
Afshar et al (27 LMICs)16	Africa, Central and South America, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, South Asia, South East Asia	Prevalence and determinants	Cross-sectional	WHS	Probabilistic	2001–2004	25 761	≥18	Self-report	6	≥2	Ranges from 1.7 to 15.2; Africa (3.6–11.2) Central and South America (5.7–13.4) Eastern Europe and Central Asia (7.6–15.0) South Asia (3.9–7.8) Southeast Asia (1.7–15.2) Mean global prevalence (95 CI) 7.8 (7.8 to 7.8)*	Good
Agrawal and Agrawal27	China	Prevalence and determinants	Cross-sectional	WHO SAGE	Probabilistic	2007–2010	China (15048); (India 12198); Mexico (2725); Russia (4946); South Africa (4227); Ghana (5571)	≥18	Self-report+medication use+SBD	9	≥2	22.0–50.0: China (22.0); India (24.0); Mexico (27.0); Russia (50.0); South Africa (32.0); Ghana (23.0)	Good
Arokiasamy et al4	China, Ghana, India, Mexico, South Africa, Russia	Prevalence and determinants	Cross-sectional	WHO SAGE	Probabilistic	2007–2010	42 236	≥18	Self-report+medication use+SBD	9	≥2	21.9	Good
Aye et al54	Myanmar	Prevalence, patterns and determinants	Cross-sectional	Household survey	Probabilistic	2016	4859	≥60	Self-report	14	≥2	33.2	Good
Bao et al 26	Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Peru, Venezuela, Mexico, China	Prevalence	Population based Cohort	Household survey	NR	2003–2010	15 027	≥65	Self-report+physical examination	15	≥2	Ranges from 31.0 to 68.0; China (31.0); Peru (49.0) Cuba (58.0), Venezuela (60.0), Mexico (60.0), Dominican Republic (68.0)	Fair
Chen et al57	China	Prevalence and determinants	Cross-sectional	CHARLS	Probabilistic	2011–2012	3737	≥45	Self-report	16	≥2	46.0	GOOD
Christian et al29	China, Ghana, India, Mexico, South Africa, Russia	Prevalence	Cross-sectional	WHO SAGE	Probabilistic	2007–2010	42 487	≥50	Self-report	8	≥2	Ranges from 8.8 to 50.2: Ghana (8.8), India (16), China (20.3), Mexico (20.8), South Africa (20.8%), Russia (50.2)	Good
Ebrahimoghli et al32	Iran	Prevalence	Retrospective cohort study	IHIO	All beneficiaries of IHIO	2013–2016	481 733	≥18	ATC CS	18	≥2	21.5	Fair
Garin et al28	China, Ghana, India, Mexico, South Africa, Russia	Prevalence determinants and patterns	Cross-sectional	WHO SAGE	Probabilistic	2007–2010	China (13157), Ghana (4305), India (6560), Mexico (2301), South Africa (3763), Russia (3836)	≥50	Self-report +medication use +SBD	12	≥2	Ranges from 45.1 to 72.0: China (45.1), Ghana (48.3), India (57.9), Mexico (64.0), South Africa (63.4), Russia (72.0)
Hien et al33	Burkina Faso	Prevalence and determinants	Cross-sectional	Household survey	Probabilistic	2012	389	≥60	Self-report+clinical examination+medical record review	16	≥2	65.0	Good
Jawed et al55	Pakistan	Prevalence and determinants	Cross-sectional	The IMPACT study	Probabilistic	2015–2016	1500	≥30	Self-report+medication use+SBD	16	≥2	48.6	Good
Jerliu et al46	Kosovo	Prevalence and determinants	Cross-sectional	Community survey	Probabilistic	2011	2265	≥65	Self-report	7	≥2	45.0	Good
Jovic et al42	Serbian	Prevalence, patterns	Cross-sectional	NHS-Serbia	Probabilistic	2013	13 103	≥20	Self-report	12	≥2	26.9	Good
Jankovic et al43	Serbian	Prevalence and determinants	Cross-sectional	NHS-Serbia	Probabilistic	2013	13 765	≥20	Self-report	13	≥2	30.2	Good
Khan et al45	Bangladesh	Prevalence, patterns and determinants	Cross-sectional	Household survey	Probabilistic	2014–2016	12 338	≥35	Self-report+medication use+SBD	6	≥2	8.4	Good
Khanam et al48	Bangladesh	Prevalence and determinants	Cross-sectional	HDSS	Probabilistic	2003–2004	452	≥60	Self-report+physical examination+blood test	9	≥2	53.7	Good
Kumar et al47	India	Prevalence	Cross-sectional	Household survey	NR	2012–2013	58 590	≥20	Self-report	5	≥2	0.7	Fair
Kunna et al31	China, Ghana	Prevalence and determinants	Cross-sectional	WHO SAGE	Probabilistic	2007–2010	China (11 814); Ghana (4050)	≥50	Self-report+SBD	7	≥2	China (29.7); Ghana (30.2)	Good
Koyanagi et al87	China, Ghana, India, Mexico, South Africa, Russia	Prevalence	Cross-sectional	WHO SAGE	Probabilistic	2007–2011	32 715	≥50	Self-report+SBD	10	≥2	49.8	Good
Lee et al9	China, Ghana, India, Mexico, South Africa, Russia	Prevalence and determinants	Cross-sectional	WHO SAGE	Probabilistic	2007–2010	39 213	≥18	Self-report	9	≥2	Varies from 3.9 in Ghana-33.6 in Russia	Good
Mini and Thankappan50	India	Prevalence, patterns and determinants	Cross-sectional	UNFPA	Probabilistic	2011	9852	≥60	Self-report	12	≥2	30.7	Good
Nugraha et al41	Indonesia	Prevalence	Cross-sectional	Community survey	Probabilistic	2018	427	≥60	Self-report	15	≥2	60.7	Good
Nunes et al40	Brazil	Prevalence and patterns	Cross-sectional	Household survey	Probabilistic	2008	1593	≥60	Self-report	17	≥2	81.3	Good
Nunes et al34	Brazil	Prevalence, patterns and determinants	Cross-sectional	PNS	Probabilistic	2013	60 202	≥18	Self-report	22	≥2 or≥3	22 for ≥2 and 10.2 for ≥3	Good
Pati et al58	India	Prevalence and determinants	Cross-sectional	WHO SAGE	Probabilistic	2007	10 973	≥18	Self-report	9	≥2	8.9	Good
Pati et al39	India	Prevalence and patterns	Cross-sectional	Primary healthcare	Probabilistic		1649	≥18	Self-report	21	≥2	28.3	Good
Pengpid and Peltzer36	Mekong	Prevalence, determinants	Cross-sectional	Primary healthcare	Probabilistic	NR	6236	≥18	Self-report	21	≥2	72.6 (28.6 had 2, 22.4 had 3 and 21.6 had ≥24 chronic conditions)	Good
Phaswana-Mafuya et al52	South Africa	Prevalence	Cross-sectional	WHO SAGE	Probabilistic	2008	3840	≥50	Self-report	8	≥2	22.5	Good
Price et al53	Malawi	Prevalence and determinants	Cross-sectional	Household survey	No sampling: all adults	2013–2016	28 891	≥18	Self-report+medication use+patient health record+clinical test	3	≥2	4.0	Good
Rehr et al51	Northern Jordan	Prevalence, patterns and determinants	Cross-sectional	UNHCR	Probabilistic	2016	8041	≥18	Self-report	6	≥2	44.7	Good
Rzewuska et al35	Brazil	Prevalence, patterns and determinants	Cross-sectional	PNS	Probabilistic	2013	60 202	≥18	Self-report+SBD	14	≥2	24.2	Good
Sum et al44	China, Ghana, India, Mexico, South Africa, Russia	Prevalence and patterns	Cross-sectional	WHO SAGE	Probabilistic	2007–2010	41 557	≥18	Self-report+SBD	9	≥2	18.9	Good
Vadrevu56	India	Prevalence and determinants	Cross-sectional	Household survey	Probabilistic	2009	815	≥40	Self-report+SBD	6	≥2	44.1	Good
Vancampfort et al88	China, Ghana, India, Mexico, South Africa, Russia	Prevalence	Cross-sectional	WHO SAGE	Probabilistic	2007–2010	34 129	≥50	Self-report+SBD	11	≥2	45.5	Good
Vancampfort et al89	China, Ghana, India, Mexico, South Africa, Russia	Prevalence	Cross-sectional	WHO SAGE	Probabilistic	2007–2010	34 129	≥50	Self-report+SBD	11	≥2	45.5	Good
Vancampfort et al49	China, Ghana, India, Mexico, South Africa, Russia	Prevalence and determinants	Cross-sectional	WHO SAGE	Probabilistic	2007–2010	14 585	≥65	Self-report+SBD	11	≥2	60.2	Good
Waterhouse et al90	South Africa	Prevalence	Cross-sectional	WHO SAGE	Probabilistic	2007–2008	3055	≥50	Self-report	8	≥2	13.2	Good
Woldesemayat et al60	Ethiopia	Prevalence, patterns and determinants	Cross-sectional	Healthcare	NR	2016	411	≥18	Self-report+medical card	18	≥2	17.8	Good
Zhou et al30	Bangladesh, India, China	Prevalence	Cross-sectional	WHS	Probabilistic	2002–2004	Bangladesh (5507); India (9199); China (3990)	≥18	Self-report	9	≥2	Bangladesh (28.8); India (34.4); China (14.3)	Good

*Include prevalence from 27 LMICs and 1 high-income country.

ATC CS, Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Classification System; BDHS, Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey; CHARLS, China Health and Population Fund; HDSS, Health and Demographic Surveillance System; IHIO, Iranian Health Insurance Organization; LMIC, low/middle-income country; NCDs, non-communicable diseases; PNS, Pesquisa Nacional de Saude (Brazillian National Health Survey); SA-NIDS, South Africa National Income Dynamics Study; SBD, symptom based diagnosis; UNHCR, United Nations High Commission for Refugees; WHO-SAGE, WHO Study on Global AGEing and adults health; WHS, World Health Survey.