The aging society poses a serious threat to multimorbidity, which may lead to a decline in quality of life and the deterioration of psychological health. This study aimed to disentangle the age, period, and cohort effects on multimorbidity among Chinese older adults by gender. Data came from a repeated cross-sectional survey named the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS). We utilized seven waves of CLHLS (2002-2021) and 990946 participants aged 65-105 were enrolled. For the multimorbidity definition, 15 chronic conditions were asked in every wave. Hierarchical age-period-cohort cross-classified random effects models were conducted to investigate age, period, and cohort trends in multimorbidity. After controlling for covariates, significant age effects were observed (OR=1.595, P<0.001). Inverted U-shaped age effects were identified for both genders (male: OR=0.882, P<0.001; female: OR=0.863, P<0.001), and female elderly always had more prevalent multimorbidity than males on age effects. Besides, cohort and period effects were also significant among Chinese old adults (P<0.001). Males born from 1906-1930 and 1936-1940 faced with higher prevalence of multimorbidity. As to period trends, both genders had similar increasing patterns from 2002 to 2021. Gender-specific age, period, and cohort had different and independent effects on multimorbidity among Chinese older adults. Government and related social organizations ought to pay attention to the increasing period trends of multimorbidity. Management services of multimorbidity risk need to be supplied for females aged 75-85 in advance.

Authors:
Yebo Yu, Peking University, China

About the Presenter(s)
Ms Yebo YU is currently a PhD candidate student at School of Public Health, Peking University in China.

See this presentation on the full schedule – Monday Schedule

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