Deconstructing Complex Multimorbidity in the Very Old: Findings from the Newcastle 85+ Study
Table 4
Prevalence (%) of 20 conditions in each cluster and in total sample with multimorbidity. Conditions occurring at higher than average prevalence are shown in bold text; those occurring at lower than average prevalence are shown in italic text.
Cluster A
Cluster B
Cluster C
Cluster D
Cluster E
Total multimorbid sample
Diseases
Hypertension
73.0
56.5
62.4
54.9
0.0
60.2
Ischaemic heart disease
42.2
40.2
54.4
9.8
6.3
38.6
Heart failure
26.1
6.5
6.7
1.2
3.1
12.0
Atrial fibrillation or flutter
18.0
18.5
8.7
2.4
21.9
14.3
Cerebrovascular disease
39.3
30.4
2.0
0.0
18.8
22.5
Peripheral vascular disease
12.3
7.6
7.4
0.0
3.1
7.9
Osteoarthritis
56.4
66.9
63.1
74.4
0.0
60.3
Inflammatory arthritis
3.3
4.9
6.0
2.4
0.0
4.1
Osteoporosis
10.9
11.4
18.1
14.6
6.3
12.9
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
15.2
17.9
8.7
26.8
46.9
17.5
Asthma
5.2
3.3
3.4
6.1
3.1
4.3
Thyroid disease
24.2
20.1
4.7
8.5
6.3
15.8
Diabetes mellitus
22.3
21.2
4.0
3.7
3.1
14.6
Cancer within 5 years
9.5
6.5
7.4
1.2
0.0
6.7
Renal impairment
58.3
16.3
6.7
6.1
3.1
25.7
Geriatric conditions
Urinary incontinence
15.6
79.4
6.0
41.5
0.0
33.7
Visual impairment
21.3
56.0
40.9
25.6
84.4
39.1
Hearing impairment
55.0
76.6
81.2
13.4
87.5
63.4
Falls
9.0
28.3
17.5
29.3
0.0
18.4
Cognitive impairment
3.3
9.8
3.4
19.5
9.4
7.5
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.
