Economic burden of multimorbidity among older adults: impact on healthcare and societal costs

Table 3 Socio-demographic correlates of multimorbidity

Demographic characteristic	Category	2 or more chronic conditions				1 chronic condition
		OR^a	95 % CI		p value	OR^a	95 % CI		p value
Age group	60–74 years	Ref
	75–84 years	1.8	1.2	2.8	0.006	1.2	0.7	1.9	0.559
	85+ years	0.9	0.6	1.7	0.987	0.9	0.5	1.6	0.613
Gender	Men	Ref.				Ref.
	Women	0.9	0.6	1.3	0.44	0.8	0.5	1.2	0.201
Ethnicity	Chinese	Ref.				Ref.
	Malay	0.8	0.6	1	0.089	0.8	0.6	1.1	0.141
	Indian	1.7	1.2	2.2	0.001	0.9	0.6	1.3	0.552
	Others	5.1	1	25.1	0.043	3	0.6	14.3	0.176
Marital	Married	Ref.				Ref.
	Divorced/separated	0.8	0.4	1.6	0.597	0.7	0.3	1.6	0.422
	Never married	0.7	0.4	1.4	0.342	0.9	0.5	1.7	0.778
	Widowed	1.3	0.8	2	0.299	1.5	0.9	2.4	0.139
Education	None	Ref.				Ref.
	Some, but did not complete primary	0.8	0.5	1.3	0.342	0.8	0.4	1.4	0.352
	Completed primary	0.7	0.4	1.2	0.156	0.6	0.4	1.1	0.123
	Completed secondary	0.6	0.3	0.9	0.047	0.8	0.4	1.4	0.395
	Completed tertiary	0.6	0.3	1.2	0.123	0.9	0.4	1.7	0.659
Employment	Paid work (part-time and full-time)	Ref.				Ref.
	Homemaker	1.5	0.9	2.5	0.113	1.2	0.7	2.1	0.462
	Retired	2.1	1.4	3.2	0.002	1.3	0.9	2	0.217
	Unemployed (looking for work)	3.5	0.8	15.1	0.087	4.8	1.2	19.9	0.031

ISSN: 1472-6963