Different Multimorbidity Measures Result in Varying Estimated Levels of Physical Quality of Life in Individuals with Multimorbidity: A Cross-Sectional Study in the General Population

Abstract EN

Introduction.

Multimorbidity adversely affects health-related quality of life.

Methodological factors may impact the magnitude of this relationship.

Objective.

To evaluate how physical health-related quality of life varies in individuals with multimorbidity depending on the length of the list of candidate conditions considered.

Methods.

Secondary analysis from PRECISE, a cohort study of the general adult population of Quebec, Canada.

Multimorbidity was measured using the 21-chronic condition list from the Disease Burden Morbidity Assessment, and physical health-related quality of life was measured using the physical component summary (PCS) of SF-12v2.

The PCS was calculated, (a) using 2 or more conditions from the 21-condition list (MM2+, 21) and then from a reduced 6-condition list (MM2+, 6) and (b) using three or more conditions from each list (MM3+, 21, and MM3+, 6).

Results.

The analysis included 1,710 individuals (mean age 51.3, 40.5% men).

Multimorbidity prevalence ranged from 63.8% (MM2+, 21 conditions) to 3.8% (MM3+, 6 conditions).

The mean [95% CI] PCS dropped from 45.7 [CI: 45.0–46.3] (MM2+, 21) to 40.2 [CI: 38.7–41.8] (MM2+, 6) and from 44.2 [CI: 43.4–44.9] (MM3+, 21) to 34.8 [CI: 31.9–37.6] (MM3+, 6).

Conclusion.

The length of the list of candidate conditions considered has a great impact on the estimations of physical health-related quality of life.