Frequency and Correlates of Multimorbidity Among the Oldest Old: Study Findings from the Representative “Survey on Quality of Life and Subjective Well-Being of the Very Old in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW80+)”

PURPOSE: Our aim was to clarify the frequency and correlates of multimorbidity among the oldest old. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We used data from the representative “Survey on quality of life and subjective well-being of the very old in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW80+)” covering participants ≥80 years living in private households and in institutionalized settings in North Rhine-Westphalia (n = 1484, mean age was 86.3 years). Multimorbidity is defined as the co-occurrence of at least two chronic conditions. Sociodemographic, lifestyle-related, and health-related (including health literacy) correlates were included in regression analysis. RESULTS: About 79% of the participants were multimorbid. Logistic regressions showed that the likelihood of multimorbidity significantly increased with living in a private household, having a larger network size, worse self-rated health, higher functional impairment, and more depressive symptoms, whereas the remaining sociodemographic and lifestyle-related factors as well as health literacy were not significantly associated with multimorbidity. CONCLUSION: A large proportion of participants in very late life is multimorbid. Apart from health-related factors, also two sociodemographic factors (ie, living situation and network size) were associated with multimorbidity among the oldest old. This knowledge may help to identify individuals at risk for multimorbidity in very late life.