Multimorbidity patterns in primary care: interactions among chronic diseases using factor analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

The primary objective of this study was to identify the existence of chronic disease multimorbidity patterns in the primary care population, describing their clinical components and analysing how these patterns change and evolve over time both in women and men. The secondary objective of this study was to generate evidence regarding the pathophysiological processes underlying multimorbidity and to understand the interactions and synergies among the various diseases.

Methods

This observational, retrospective, multicentre study utilised information from the electronic medical records of 19 primary care centres from 2008. To identify multimorbidity patterns, an exploratory factor analysis was carried out based on the tetra-choric correlations between the diagnostic i

SUBMITTER: Prados-Torres A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3290548 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature