The impact on health-related quality of life of mixed mental and physical multimorbidity in adults aged 60 years and older: secondary analysis of primary care data

• Autor(a) principal: Prazeres, José Filipe Chaves Pereira
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Outros Autores: Santiago, Luiz Miguel de Mendonça Soares, Simões, José Augusto Rodrigues
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.6/9293
• topic: Multimorbidity; Geriatric psychiatry; Quality of life; Primary health care

Introduction Given the number of patients with mental conditions who receive treatment within the primary care (PC) context, and the high prevalence of multimorbidity (especially in older people), there is a need to study mental-physical multimorbidity (MPM) in this population and context. This study sought to identify the impact on health-related quality of life (QoL) of MPM in adults aged 60 years and older. Material and methods Secondary analysis of data derived from 251 primary health individuals. Data were collected via a sociodemographic and clinical questionnaire. Health-related QoL was assessed using the SF-12 instrument. Multiple linear regressions were performed for physical and mental health in MPM patients and in patients with physical-only multimorbidity. Results Mean age of participants was 70.6 years; 57.8% were female. Quali¬ty of life was lower in MPM patients than in those with physical-only multimorbidity. Regarding MPM patients, female sex, 75 years and over, and low income were associated with worse physical health. Female sex was also associated with worse mental health. Conclusions This study contributes to the global knowledge of MPM in older people, illuminates health-related QoL differences among MPM and physical- only multimorbidity patients, and highlights the importance of non-modi-fiable characteristics associated with deterioration of health-related QoL. Team collaboration between primary care physicians, psychiatrists (and other mental health providers), and social workers may be necessary to assess psychiatric and physical symptoms and provide for the care needs of older people with MPM.