Chronic conditions, disability, and quality of life in older adults with multimorbidity in Spain

• We analyzed 5 cohorts of older adults with multimorbidity in Spain.
• The main variables were 7 chronic conditions, disability, and quality of life (QoL).
• Disability was direct and independently related to lower QoL.
• Mental health and osteoarticular problems had a high effect on disability and QoL.

BackgroundAs the population ages, the prevalence of multimorbidity also increases, with consequences to several health outcomes such as disability and quality of life (QoL). This study aimed at analyzing the relationships between chronic conditions, disability, and QoL of older adults with multimorbidity in Spain.MethodData on older adults aged 65 years or more, with at least two chronic health conditions were drawn from three cohort studies. Sample size was 705, 443, and 4995, respectively. For each cohort, the impact of the following chronic health conditions was analyzed: asthma, cancer, cardiac, diabetes, hypertension, mental health disorders, osteoarticular conditions, and stroke. Disability and QoL measures varied according to the survey.ResultsIn older adults with multimorbidity, the most prevalent conditions were osteoarticular (59.08–67.80%) and hypertension (50.64–60.03%). The presence of disability was significantly associated to having osteoarticular (OR range: 1.53 to 2.646), diabetes (OR: 1.86 to 1.71), or mental health disorders (OR: 2.19 to 3.36) in most cohorts. Disability (OR: 1.67 to 7.67), osteoarticular conditions (OR: 3.37 to 5.10), and mental health disorders (OR: 1.83 to 4.27) showed the highest effects on lower QoL than the population.ConclusionThe presence of disability and diverse chronic conditions has a negative effect on QoL of older adults affected by multimorbidity in Spain. Public health and primary care interventions focusing on the integrated care of older adults with multimorbidity might give special attention to mental health and osteoarticular conditions.