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What do they mean? | British Geriatrics Society" /> <meta property="og:description" content="Comorbidity simply means more than one illness or disease occurring in one person at the same time and multimorbidity means more than two illnesses or diseases occurring in the same person at the same time." /> <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" /> <meta name="twitter:url" content="https://www.bgs.org.uk/resources/morbidity-comorbidity-and-multimorbidity-what-do-they-mean" /> <meta name="twitter:title" content="Morbidity - Comorbidity and multimorbidity. What do they mean? |" /> <meta name="twitter:description" content="Comorbidity simply means more than one illness or disease occurring in one person at the same time and multimorbidity means more than two illnesses or diseases occurring in the same person at the" /> <title>Morbidity - Comorbidity and multimorbidity. 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about="/resources/morbidity-comorbidity-and-multimorbidity-what-do-they-mean" typeof="sioc:Item foaf:Document"> <div class="resource-header node-header"> <h1><div class="card-full-title"> Morbidity - Comorbidity and multimorbidity. What do they mean? </div> </h1> <span property="dc:title" content="Morbidity - Comorbidity and multimorbidity. What do they mean?" class="rdf-meta element-hidden"></span><span property="sioc:num_replies" content="0" datatype="xsd:integer" class="rdf-meta element-hidden"></span> <div class="resource-header-details"> <div class="card-resource-type-i"> <div class="card-resource-type"> E-learning </div> <div class="resource-type-i-icon">i</div> <div class="resource-type-info-arrow"></div> </div> <div class="card-content-members-only">Members only</div> <div class="resource-type-info"><div class="resource-type-info-text">An elearning module or article about an e-learning module which is run an managed by the British Geriatrics Society</div></div> </div> <div class="node-header-details"> <div class="card-authors-wrapper"><div class="label">Authors:</div><div class="author-details">Sarah McGeorge</div></div> <div class="card-topics-wrapper"><div class="label">Topics:</div><a href="/taxonomy/term/864">Multimorbidity</a></div> <div class="node-header-dates"> <div class="card-date-wrapper"><div class="label">Date Published:</div><div class="card-date-display-override"> 1 Oct 2012 </div> </div> <div class="card-date-updated"> <div class="label">Last updated: </div> <span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2018-05-11T13:00:00+01:00">11 May 2018</span> </div> </div> </div> <div class="card-resource-summary"> <p><em>This Practice Question has been published with the kind permission of the Royal College of Nursing.</em></p> <p>These terms are often used by healthcare professionals in clinical practice and in health policy documents. Used in medical settings, morbidity means illness or disease and is not to be confused with mortality, which means death, and is frequently used in statistical reports. Comorbidity simply means more than one illness or disease occurring in one person at the same time and multimorbidity means more than two illnesses or diseases occurring in the same person at the same time.</p> <p>Due to an ageing population and improved detection and treatment of disease, many older people now have more than one illness. Common comorbid conditions in older people include heart disease, hypertension, respiratory disease, mental health problems (including dementia), cerebrovascular disease, joint disease, diabetes and sensory impairment.</p> <p>Alongside comorbidity and multimorbidity comes polypharmacy, or the prescription of many medications. An audit I carried out a few years ago in an acute admission ward for older people revealed the average number of prescribed medications per patient was seven. Polypharmacy brings its own difficulties, particularly the potential for drug interactions and complicated medication regimens which can be hard to follow. In my clinical work I frequently meet older people who cannot tell me why they are taking certain medications, as well as individuals who have had medications prescribed for many years without a review.</p> </div> <button class="member-only-link"><a href="/user?destination=resources/morbidity-comorbidity-and-multimorbidity-what-do-they-mean" title="Members only content. 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