Multimorbidity Patterns and Socioeconomic Position in Vulnerable Populations

Mathias Voigt
Antonio Abellán
Laura Cilek, Centro de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales (CCHS-CSIC)
Dariya Ordanovich, Spanish National Research Council
Diego Ramiro, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)

As prevalence rates for many aging-related chronic conditions and disabilities will grow due to ongoing population aging, the increasing occurrence of multiple conditions in the same individual poses a challenge to health care systems and geriatrics. While a large body of research is devoted to examining the consequences and effects of multimorbidity, little is known about how these effects are mediated by the socioeconomic context across the life course and how they determine health and mortality in vulnerable populations. In this study, we aim to estimate the effects of different multimorbidity clusters within individuals with chronic limitations and assess the mediating effect of socioeconomic context variables. We use a newly linked data source, a nationally representative survey on disability, personal autonomy, and dependency in Spain (EDAD) which is linked to a 10-year mortality follow-up, to first characterize different associative and random disease clusters in individuals with multiple conditions. Second, we estimate mortality hazards with a Gompertz proportional hazards model and examine the effects of different disease patterns, individual demographic characteristics as well as household composition and wealth features. Preliminary results indicate a strongly increased mortality risk of individuals with multimorbidity which is found to be exacerbated by low education. In subsequent analysis, we aim to differentiate between various reoccurring disease patterns and more sophisticated socioeconomic measures. A better understanding of how different aspects of multimorbidity affect individuals in vulnerable groups can help to inform future geriatrics and policy maker about the dangers and possible adjustments to these subpopulations.

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 Presented in Session P2. Poster Session Ageing, Health and Mortality