Deconstructing Complex Multimorbidity in the Very Old: Findings from the Newcastle 85+ Study

Table 3

Description of five clusters of participants with similar morbidity profiles identified in sample with multimorbidity ().

Cluster	Prevalence within multimorbid sample % ()	Female % ()	Median (IQR) number of conditions	Number of diseases/geriatric conditions occurring at higher than average prevalence	Conditions^† occurring at higher than average prevalence: prevalence, % (ratio of prevalence in cluster to prevalence in total multimorbid sample)	Number of diseases/geriatric conditions occurring at lower than average prevalence	Conditions^† occurring at lower than average prevalence: prevalence, % (ratio of prevalence in cluster to prevalence in total multimorbid sample)
A	32.1 (211)	56.4 (119)	5 (3–7)	10/0	Hypertension 73.0 (1.2); Renal impairment 58.3 (2.3); Cerebrovascular disease 39.3 (1.8); Heart failure 26.1 (2.2); Thyroid disease 24.2 (1.5); Diabetes mellitus 22.3 (1.5); Atrial fibrillation/flutter 18.0 (1.3); Peripheral vascular disease 12.3 (1.6); Cancer 9.5 (1.4); Asthma 5.2 (1.2)	2/4	Cognitive impairment 3.3 (0.5); Inflammatory arthritis 3.3 (0.8); Falls 9.0 (0.5); Osteoporosis 10.9 (0.8); Urinary incontinence 15.6 (0.5); Visual impairment 21.3 (0.6)
B	28.0 (184)	66.3 (122)	6 (5–7)	5/5	Urinary incontinence 79.4 (2.4); Hearing impairment 76.6 (1.2); Visual impairment 56.0 (1.4); Cerebrovascular disease 30.4 (1.4); Falls 28.3 (1.5); Diabetes mellitus 21.2 (1.5); Thyroid disease 20.1 (1.3); Atrial fibrillation/flutter 18.5 (1.3); Cognitive impairment 9.8 (1.3); Inflammatory arthritis 4.9 (1.2)	3/0	Asthma 3.3 (0.8); Heart failure 6.5 (0.5); Renal impairment 16.3 (0.6)
C	22.6 (149)	53.0 (79)	4 (3–5)	3/1	Hearing impairment 81.2 (1.3); Ischaemic heart disease 54.4 (1.4); Osteoporosis 18.1 (1.4); Inflammatory arthritis 6.0 (1.5)	8/2	Cerebrovascular disease 2.0 (0.1); Cognitive impairment 3.4 (0.5); Asthma 3.4 (0.8); Diabetes mellitus 4.0 (0.3); Thyroid disease 4.7 (0.3); Urinary incontinence 6.0 (0.2); Renal impairment 6.7 (0.3); Heart failure 6.7 (0.6); Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 8.7 (0.5); Atrial fibrillation/flutter 8.7 (0.6)
D	12.5 (82)	75.6 (62)	3 (2–4)	3/3	Osteoarthritis 74.4 (1.2); Urinary incontinence 41.5 (1.2); Falls 29.3 (1.6); Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 26.8 (1.5); Cognitive impairment 19.5 (2.6); Asthma 6.1 (1.4)	10/2	Cerebrovascular disease 0.0 (0.0); Peripheral vascular disease 0.0 (0.0); Heart failure 1.2 (0.1); Cancer 1.2 (0.2); Atrial fibrillation/flutter 2.4 (0.2); Inflammatory arthritis 2.4 (0.6); Diabetes mellitus 3.7 (0.3); Renal impairment 6.1 (0.2); Thyroid disease 8.5 (0.5); Ischaemic heart disease 9.8 (0.3); Hearing impairment 13.4 (0.2); Visual impairment 25.6 (0.7)
E	4.9 (32)	50.0 (16)	3 (2–4)	2/3	Hearing impairment 87.5 (1.4); Visual impairment 84.4 (2.2); Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 46.9 (2.7); Atrial fibrillation/flutter 21.9 (1.5); Cognitive impairment 9.4 (1.3)	13/2	Hypertension 0.0 (0.0); Osteoarthritis 0.0 (0.0); Inflammatory arthritis 0.0 (0.0); Cancer 0.0 (0.0); Urinary incontinence 0.0 (0.0); Falls 0.0 (0.0); Renal impairment 3.1 (0.1); Diabetes mellitus 3.1 (0.2); Heart failure 3.1 (0.3); Peripheral vascular disease 3.1 (0.4); Asthma 3.1 (0.7); Ischaemic heart disease 6.3 (0.2); Thyroid disease 6.3 (0.4); Osteoporosis 6.3 (0.5); Cerebrovascular disease 18.8 (0.8)

Higher than average prevalence of a condition defined as a ratio of prevalence in cluster to prevalence in total sample with multimorbidity ≥1.2 : 1. Lower than average prevalence of a condition defined as a ratio of prevalence in cluster to prevalence in total sample with multimorbidity ≤0.8 : 1.
^†Geriatric conditions (syndromes/impairments) are shown in italic font.