Designing and Validating a Multimorbidity Assessment Questionnaire for a Rural Indian Community

Introduction: Multimorbidity, has received its undue attention in the recent years, because of its hidden impact on the patients and their families, especially in environments with little resources. There is no data available on the prevalence of multimorbidity (for both oral and systemic) in Uttarakhand to the best of our knowledge. The aim of this study is to develop a multimorbidity questionnaire in a rural Indian community. Methods: The pilot study was conducted in Kurkawala, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India in February 2023. Results: Our sample had mean age of 46 years, with 54.2% females. 88.5 % of the participants were found to be with any morbidity, whereas 31.5% participants were found to be with only oral morbidity. 57.9% participants were found with Oral Morbidities along with One systemic Morbidity followed by 21.1% participants with Oral Morbidities along with Two systemic Morbidities. 25.8% participants were found to have with both Hypertension and Oral Conditions, followed by Acid peptic disease and Any Chronic Bone/Joint Disease; Any Neurological and/or Psychiatric Disorders (19.4% respectively). Discussion: Developing a stronger evidence base of the knowledge of risk factors and their determinants as well as implementing proven effective strategies (both at individual as well as societal level) for multimorbidity risk reduction hold the key to lower multimorbidity burden and improve quality of life globally. Conclusion: Our findings show that this questionnaire is a reliable and trustworthy way to assess multimorbidity in a community setting with a range of chronic illnesses (both systemic and oral).