Chronic physical conditions, physical multimorbidity, and quality of life among adults aged ≥ 50 years from six low- and middle-income countries

PURPOSE: Multimorbidity (i.e., ≥ 2 chronic conditions) poses a challenge for health systems and governments, globally. Several studies have found inverse associations between multimorbidity and quality of life (QoL). However, there is a paucity of studies from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), especially among the older population, as well as studies examining mediating factors in this association. Thus, the present study aimed to explore the associations, and mediating factors, between multimorbidity and QoL among older adults in LMICs. METHODS: Cross-sectional nationally representative data from the Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health were analyzed. A total of 11 chronic conditions were assessed. QoL was assessed with the 8-item WHO QoL instrument (range 0–100) with higher scores representing better QoL. Multivariable linear regression and mediation analyses were conducted to assess associations. RESULTS: The final sample consisted of 34,129 adults aged ≥ 50 years [mean (SD) age 62.4 (16.0) years; age range 50–114 years; 52.0% females]. Compared to no chronic conditions, 2 (b-coefficient − 5.89; 95% CI − 6.83, − 4.95), 3 (− 8.35; − 9.63, − 7.06), 4 (− 10.87; − 12.37, − 9.36), and ≥ 5 (− 13.48; − 15.91, − 11.06) chronic conditions were significantly associated with lower QoL, dose-dependently. The mediation analysis showed that mobility (47.9%) explained the largest proportion of the association between multimorbidity and QoL, followed by pain/discomfort (43.5%), sleep/energy (35.0%), negative affect (31.9%), cognition (20.2%), self-care (17.0%), and interpersonal activities (12.0%). CONCLUSION: A greater number of chronic conditions was associated with lower QoL dose-dependently among older adults in LMICs. Public health and medical practitioners should aim to address the identified mediators to improve QoL in patients with multimorbidity. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11136-022-03317-6.