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Multimorbidity is prevalent among older patients, as this article shows that more than 60 percent of over 60-year-old patients are categorized as having physical multimorbidity.1 The concept of multimorbidity can detect the population at risk in general, including young to older populations. Previous studies show that multimorbidity can cause mortality and morbidity.2,3 However, this article shows that when limiting the target population to the older generation, the current definitions may not help detect the relationship between multimorbidity and health risk.
The definition of multimorbidity specific to older patients should be defined in the future. More countries have issues related to aging societies. Aging can inevitably cause various health problems. Older patients can also have polypharmacy issues related to multimorbidity. On the other hand, among older patients, physical and mental health should be respected more than chronological ages to avoid ageism. When investigating older patients’ multimorbidity issues, multimorbidity definitions should be more specific and need additional research regarding the relationship between specific numbers of diseases and risk of health issues such as mortality and quality of life.
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1. MacRae C, Mercer SW, Henderson D, et al. Age, sex, and socioeconomic differences in multimorbidity measured in four ways: UK primary care cross-sectional analysis...Competing Interests: None declared.