Multimorbidity prevalence, patterns and associated factors: Analysis of the UK Biobank

We aim to :
? investigate the prevalence of multimorbidity (presence of more than two chronic conditions) in a large representative sample of older adults from the UK
? identify patterns of multimorbidity in the distribution of chronic diseases and age and gender specific differences in these patterns
? assess the association between lifestyle risk factors (physical activity, smoking, alcohol use, Body Mass Index, fruit and vegetable intake) and multimorbidity The UK Biobank is aimed at supporting research intended to improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment of illness and promotion of health. This project aligns very closely with the purpose of Biobank and addresses a very important issue in the current health care settings in the UK. A better understanding of multimorbidity and its associated factors will not only feed into the prevention and care guidelines for multimorbidity but also aid in defragmentation of care for these patients. We will quantify the extent to which multimorbidity affects older adults in the population and common clusters of chronic conditions. We will also then assess the variations in these clusters by age and sex and the association between multimorbidity and lifestyle factors. Full cohort