Quality of life and associated factors among community-dwelling adults with multimorbidity in Shanghai, China: A cross-sectional study.
Xingyue Liu, Juhua Zhang, Shixiang Zhang and 5 others
PMID 37243492WHAT IT FOUND
In Shanghai adults with chronic conditions, those with multiple diseases reported significantly lower quality of life than those with a single condition.
Anxiety, depression, low income, and low education were independently linked to worse quality of life, regardless of age or gender.
Key findings
01Participants with multimorbidity had significantly lower scores in all quality of life domains compared to those with a single disease.
02Quality of life scores decreased as the number of concurrent diseases increased.
03Education level, monthly income, number of diseases, depression, and anxiety were independently associated with quality of life scores.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The cross-sectional design prevents establishing causality; we do not know if poor quality of life leads to more disease or vice versa. There was a large disparity in sample sizes between the single-disease group and the multimorbidity group, which may introduce statistical bias. The study did not account for disease severity or duration, which are likely to influence quality of life. Self-reported diagnoses and quality of life measures may be subject to recall or social desirability bias.
Declared interests
The study was funded by the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Natural Protection Foundation, Kashgar Scientific Research Innovation Team Construction Plan, and Kashgar Vocational and Technical College Key Project. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that older age or female gender automatically predicts lower quality of life in patients with multimorbidity. This study found no significant association between age or gender and quality of life scores, suggesting that psychological factors like depression and anxiety, along with socioeconomic status, are more critical drivers of poor well-being in this population.