3167 The impact of lifestyle and polypharmacy on the progression of multimorbidity in community-dwelling older adults

Abstract Introduction Globally, about one-third of community-dwelling older adults suffer from complex multimorbidity. Complex multimorbidity (three or more chronic diseases and affecting three or more different body systems) have worse outcomes than multimorbidity, such as more frequent hospitalizations, and premature mortality. The effect of sociodemographic factors in the progression of multimorbidity has been found, but the lifestyle and polypharmacy remain unclear. This study aims to explore impact of lifestyle and polypharmacy on the progression of multimorbidity among community-dwelling older adults. Methods The study used data from the health examination records of older adults residing in Southern China in 2017 and 2020 (n = 3647). The outcome was occurrence of the status of the older adults changed from multimorbidity to complex multimorbidity after 3 years. Logistic regression model was used to analyse the influence of lifestyle (diet, physical activity, smoking and drinking) and polypharmacy of baseline on the progression of multimorbidity. Demographic variables were also included in the model as confounding variables. Results Totally 13.5% (n = 491) of older adults with multimorbidity had developed into complex multimorbidity. The proportion of complex multimorbidity increased from 32.1% to 45.6%. The logistic regression analysis indicated that, compared with who exercise daily, those who don’t exercise (OR = 1.561, 95%CI:1.233–1.976, p < 0.001) and those exercise occasionally (OR = 1.670, 95%CI:1.328–2.100, p < 0.001) are more possibly to have complex multimorbidity. The smokers have a higher risk than non-smokers (OR = 1.636, 95%CI:1.137–2.353, p < 0.01). Those widowed are more likely to developing complex multimorbidity than those married (OR = 1.532, 95%CI:1.221–1.923, p < 0.001). Diet, drinking and polypharmacy had no significant effect on the progression of multimorbidity. Conclusions Lack of exercise, smoking and loss of spouse can significantly increase risk of the progression of multimorbidity and developing into complex multimorbidity among community-dwelling older adults with multimorbidity. Future research could focus on developing and implementing exercise-based interventions to delay the progression of multimorbidity.