Prevalence, Correlates, and Outcomes of Multimorbidity Among Patients Attending Primary Care in Odisha, India

The Article in Brief

Prevalence, Correlates, and Outcomes of Multimorbidity Among Patients Attending Primary Care in Odisha, India

Sanghamitra Pati , and colleagues

Background Multimorbidity (having two or more chronic conditions) is linked to higher health care utilization and expenditures and worse quality of life. Information on multimorbidity in developing countries is limited. This is the first study to estimate the prevalence of multimorbidity among adult primary care patients in India, specifically in the state of Odisha.

What This Study Found Almost 30 percent of primary care patients in Odisha, India have multiple physical and mental health problems, a finding that is consistent with prevalence studies around the world. Twenty-eight percent of patients had two or more chronic conditions. Patients who were female, older, of higher socioeconomic status, and more educated had higher odds of having multimorbidities. In addition, consultation in private versus public hospitals and more chronic conditions were associated with a significant increase in the number of medicines prescribed. India?s higher prevalence of multimorbidity and hospitalization among those with higher socioeconomic status contrasts with Western countries where lower socioeconomic status is associated with greater morbidity burden. This might be attributed to contrasting socioeconomic patterns of risk factors for noncommunicable diseases in India and lower health care seeking and higher probability of underdiagnosis in low-income populations.

Implications

• The authors call for India to redesign national health programs, shifting the focus from single diseases to managing the complexity of multimorbidity.