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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Aging and Public Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1419480
This article is part of the Research Topic Analyses on Health Status and Care Needs among Older Adults View all 14 articles

Association between Chronic Conditions, Multimorbidity, and Dependence Levels in Chinese Community-Dwelling Older Adults with Functional Dependence: a cross-sectional study in south-central China

Provisionally accepted
Heng-Yu Hu Heng-Yu Hu 1Hu M. Yue Hu M. Yue 2Hui Feng Hui Feng 2Pan-Pan Cui Pan-Pan Cui 1*
  • 1 Henan Provincial People's Hospital, Zhengzhou, China
  • 2 Xiang Ya Nursing School, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan , China, Changsha, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: The rising prevalence of multimorbidity and functional dependence in community-dwelling older adults contribute to the demand for home care services. Evidence on how chronic conditions, especially multimorbidity, affect dependence levels among older adults with functional dependence in a socio-cultural context is much needed to inform policy, workforce, aged care service development to meet the care needs of this population. Objectives: This study aimed to determine the association between chronic conditions, multimorbidity and dependence levels among Chinese community-dwelling older adults with functional dependence. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 1235 community-dwelling older adults with functional dependence in Hunan province, China, from June to October 2018. Data on socio-demographic factors, cognitive function, vision and hearing conditions, activities of daily living (ADLs), and health conditions were collected, and binary logistic regression analyses were used to determine the association between chronic conditions, multimorbidity and dependence levels, with adjustments for relevant covariates. Results: Among the participants, 62.9% had multimorbidity. Parkinson's disease, stroke, COPD, hypertension, mood and psychotic disorders (Anx/Sch/Dep) were significantly associated with high levels of functional dependence. After adjusting for demographic variables, cognitive function, vision, and hearing conditions, we observed a significant relationship between multimorbidity and higher functional dependence, but this association became insignificant when including certain chronic diseases closely associated with high-level dependence. Study revealed that parkinson's disease and stroke notably increase dependency risk across seven ADL domains, demonstrating their extensive impact on daily functioning. Conclusion: The prevalence of multimorbidity among Chinese community-dwelling older adults with functional dependence is very high. The association of multimorbidity with functional dependence is mediated by specific chronic conditions. These findings highlight the necessity of adopting an integrated care model that combines medical and social care, with a particular emphasis on managing multimorbidity and critical chronic conditions that lead to severe functional dependence to preventing and diminish the onset of disabilities.

    Keywords: Chronic conditions, multimorbidity, functional dependence, older adults, Community

    Received: 18 Apr 2024; Accepted: 09 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Hu, Yue, Feng and Cui. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Pan-Pan Cui, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, Zhengzhou, China

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