Socioeconomic inequalities in prevalence and development of multimorbidity across adulthood: A longitudinal analysis of the MRC 1946 National Survey of Health and Development in the UK
- Amal R Khanolkar 1,2, Nishi Chaturvedi 1, Valerie Kuan 3,4, Daniel Davis 1, Alun Hughes 1, Marcus Richards 1, David Bann 5, Praveetha Patalay 1,5
- Amal R Khanolkar 1,2, Nishi Chaturvedi 1, Valerie Kuan 3,4
- 1MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing at UCL, London, United Kingdom.
- 2Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
- 3Institute of Health Informatics, UCL, London, United Kingdom.
- 4Institute of Cardiovascular Science, UCL, London, United Kingdom.
- 5Centre for Longitudinal Studies, UCL, London, United Kingdom.
- 0MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing at UCL, London, United Kingdom.
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View abstract on PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.Socioeconomic disadvantage, from childhood to adulthood, accelerates the accumulation of multiple health conditions (multimorbidity). These inequalities in multimorbidity widen with age, impacting individuals into old age.
Area Of Science
- Epidemiology
- Public Health
- Social Determinants of Health
Background
- Multimorbidity, the presence of multiple chronic conditions, poses a significant public health challenge.
- Socioeconomic position (SEP) is a known determinant of health, but its impact on multimorbidity trajectories across the lifespan requires further investigation.
Purpose Of The Study
- To estimate multimorbidity trajectories from early to late adulthood.
- To quantify socioeconomic inequalities in multimorbidity accumulation based on childhood and adulthood SEP.
- To understand the independent contributions of childhood and adulthood SEP to multimorbidity.
Main Methods
- Utilized data from the UK 1946 National Survey of Health and Development (NSHD) birth cohort study (N = 3,723).
- Assessed 18 health conditions using self-report, biomarkers, health records, and medications.
- Estimated multimorbidity trajectories and socioeconomic inequalities across multiple adult ages (36-69 years).
Main Results
- Multimorbidity increased significantly with age, accelerating in later adulthood.
- Socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals consistently had a higher number of conditions compared to the most advantaged.
- Adverse adulthood SEP and disadvantaged childhood social class independently predicted accelerated multimorbidity accumulation.
Conclusions
- Socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals experience earlier onset and faster accumulation of multimorbidity.
- Widening health inequalities in multimorbidity persist into old age.
- Both childhood and adulthood SEP independently contribute to long-term multimorbidity trajectories.
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