Multimorbidity in the working-age population in Brazil: sociodemographic and behavioral factors

To assess the prevalence of multimorbidity in the Brazilian working-age population and analyze its determinants, with an emphasis on sociodemographic and behavioral aspects.

A cross-sectional study was conducted using data from the 2019 National Survey of Health, involving employed individuals aged 18 years or older. The outcome was multimorbidity, characterized by the simultaneous presence of two or more chronic noncommunicable diseases, based on a list of 14 conditions. Poisson regression with robust variance was used to assess the association between sociodemographic variables, habits, behaviors, and health/service outcomes.

Among the 52,475 employed individuals, 22.6% (95%CI 21.9-23.2) had multimorbidity, which was more prevalent among: women; those aged 30 or older; those with lower levels of education; those who self-identified as white; and urban residents. Participation in public programs for physical activity, episodic heavy drinking, leisure-time screen time, self-rated health as fair/poor or very poor, a doctor's visit in the past year, and having health insurance were also positively associated with multimorbidity.

The findings highlight the significant prevalence of multimorbidity among the working-age population in Brazil, with particular emphasis on social and behavioral determinants. These results reinforce the importance of health promotion strategies in multiple contexts, including workplaces, communities, and primary care settings.