Measuring multimorbidity in hospitalised patients using linked hospital episode data: comparison of two measures

Multimorbidity is a complex and growing health challenge. There is no accepted "gold standard" multimorbidity measure for hospital resource planning, and few studies have compared measures in hospitalised patients.

To evaluate operationalisation of two multimorbidity measures in routine hospital episode data in NHS Grampian, Scotland.

Linked hospital episode data (Scottish Morbidity Record (SMR)) for the years 2009-2016 were used. Adults admitted to hospital as a general/acute inpatient during 2014 were included. Conditions (ICD-10) were identified from general/acute (SMR01) and psychiatric (SMR04) admissions during the five years prior to first admission in 2014. Two count-based multimorbidity measures were used (Charlson Comorbidity Index and Tonelli et al.), and multimorbidity was defined as ≥2 conditions. Kappa statistics assessed agreement. The association between multimorbidity and length of stay, readmission and mortality was assessed using logistic and negative binomial regression as appropriate.

In 41,545 adults (median age 62 years, 52.6% female), multimorbidity prevalence was 15.1% (95% CI 14.8%, 15.5%) using Charlson and 27.4% (27.0%, 27.8%) using Tonelli - agreement 85.1% (Kappa 0.57). Multimorbidity prevalence, using both measures, increased with age. Multimorbidity was higher in males (16.5%) than females (13.9%) using the Charlson measure, but similar across genders when measured with Tonelli. After adjusting for covariates, multimorbidity remained associated with longer length of stay (Charlson IRR 1.1 (1.0, 1.2); Tonelli IRR 1.1 (1.0, 1.2)) and readmission (Charlson OR 2.1 (1.9, 2.2); Tonelli OR 2.1 (2.0, 2.2)). Multimorbidity had a stronger association with mortality when measured using Charlson (OR 2.7 (2.5, 2.9)), than using Tonelli (OR 1.8 (1.7, 2.0)).

Multimorbidity measures operationalised in hospital episode data identified those at risk of poor outcomes and such operationalised tools will be useful for future multimorbidity research and use in secondary care data systems. Multimorbidity measures are not interchangeable, and the choice of measure should depend on the purpose.

Operationalisation of two count-based multimorbidity measures using linked electronic hospital episode data was evaluated (Charlson and Tonelli).First study to compare the Tonelli measure with another measure for investigating multimorbidity in hospitalised patients.Multimorbidity prevalence differed depending on measure used, but both multimorbidity measures identified those at risk of poor outcomes.Operationalised multimorbidity tools have uses for future multimorbidity research and use in secondary care data systems.Multimorbidity measures are not interchangeable, and choice of measure should depend on purpose.