The Prevalence, Pattern, and Burden of Multimorbidity Among Older Adults in Niger State, Northern Nigeria

Abstract

Objective: While public health planners and practitioners are increasingly aware of the role of inequity in health, the burden of disease measures have not kept pace with this knowledge. Hence, the aim of this study is to determine the prevalence, and patterns of multimorbidity and to understand the burden of multimorbidity in Niger State Nigeria. Method: Data were collected on a cross-section of 734 older adults 60 years and older in Niger northcentral Nigeria. The morbidity was assessed by adopting the list of chronic diseases used in prospective urban and rural epidemiology studies. Collected data was entered electronically via JISC online survey software between October 2021 and February 2022. The data were analyzed by IBM SPSS version 27. Relational association rules were used for determining the pattern of multimorbidity. Results: The prevalence of multimorbidity for the study was 51.9%. The commonest dyad combination of multimorbidity among the respondents is hypertension and diabetes mellitus. The top triad of multimorbidity combinations for three disease conditions is hypertension, diabetes, and stroke. Hypertension, diabetes, and peptic ulcer represent the highest disease burden respectively. Conclusion: Health conditions like hypertension, diabetes, and acid-peptic diseases are commonly occurring in clusters of multimorbidity. And they represent the greatest disease burden. To reflect the clinical reality of older adults, identifying the common pattern will provide insight for a more integrative multidisciplinary approach focusing on prevention and better management of these disease conditions in groups.