TY - JOUR AU - Shi, Xin AU - Lima, Simone Maria da Silva AU - Mota, Caroline Maria de Miranda AU - Lu, Ying AU - Stafford, Randall S AU - Pereira, Corintho Viana PY - 2021 DA - 2021/11/25 TI - Prevalence of Multimorbidity of Chronic Noncommunicable Diseases in Brazil: Population-Based Study JO - JMIR Public Health Surveill SP - e29693 VL - 7 IS - 11 KW - multimorbidity KW - prevalence KW - health care KW - public health KW - Brazil KW - logistic regression AB - Background: Multimorbidity is the co-occurrence of two or more chronic diseases. Objective: This study, based on self-reported medical diagnosis, aims to investigate the dynamic distribution of multimorbidity across sociodemographic levels and its impacts on health-related issues over 15 years in Brazil using national data. Methods: Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, hypothesis tests, and logistic regression. The study sample comprised 679,572 adults (18-59 years of age) and 115,699 elderly people (≥60 years of age) from the two latest cross-sectional, multiple-cohort, national-based studies: the National Sample Household Survey (PNAD) of 1998, 2003, and 2008, and the Brazilian National Health Survey (PNS) of 2013. Results: Overall, the risk of multimorbidity in adults was 1.7 times higher in women (odds ratio [OR] 1.73, 95% CI 1.67-1.79) and 1.3 times higher among people without education (OR 1.34, 95% CI 1.28-1.41). Multiple chronic diseases considerably increased with age in Brazil, and people between 50 and 59 years old were about 12 times more likely to have multimorbidity than adults between 18 and 29 years of age (OR 11.89, 95% CI 11.27-12.55). Seniors with multimorbidity had more than twice the likelihood of receiving health assistance in community services or clinics (OR 2.16, 95% CI 2.02-2.31) and of being hospitalized (OR 2.37, 95% CI 2.21-2.56). The subjective well-being of adults with multimorbidity was often worse than people without multiple chronic diseases (OR=12.85, 95% CI: 12.07-13.68). These patterns were similar across all 4 cohorts analyzed and were relatively stable over 15 years. Conclusions: Our study shows little variation in the prevalence of the multimorbidity of chronic diseases in Brazil over time, but there are differences in the prevalence of multimorbidity across different social groups. It is hoped that the analysis of multimorbidity from the two latest Brazil national surveys will support policy making on epidemic prevention and management. SN - 2369-2960 UR - https://publichealth.jmir.org/2021/11/e29693 UR - https://doi.org/10.2196/29693 UR - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34842558 DO - 10.2196/29693 ID - info:doi/10.2196/29693 ER -