Secondary prevention of chronic health conditions in patients with multimorbidity: what can physiotherapists do?
Journal: Journal of Comorbidity (Vol.6, No. 2)Publication Date: 2016-03-24
Authors : Sarah Dennis;
Page : 50-52
Keywords : multimorbidity; multiple chronic conditions; physiotherapy;
Abstract
Multimorbidity is the co-occurrence of two or more diseases in an individual without a defining index disease [1,2]. In developed countries, the prevalence of multimorbidity has been estimated from both general practice and population data [3,4]. Data from general practices in Scotland found that 23% of patients had multimorbidity [3], whereas the prevalence of multimorbidity in Québec, Canada, was 46?51% in the general practice population and 10?13% in the general population aged over 24 years [4]. Australian data indicate that almost 40% of people aged over 44 years have multimorbidity, and this proportion increases to around 50% of those aged 65?74 years and to 70% of those aged 85 and over [5]. Data from a study of Australian general practice activity reported prevalence estimates for the most common combinations of chronic conditions [6]. Of the 12 most common combinations, the majority included conditions that can be positively impacted by physiotherapy interventions, such as low back pain [7], arthritis [8], chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [9], cardiac disease [10] and type 2 diabetes [11]. However, for some of these conditions, the uptake and access to physiotherapy interventions was suboptimal, especially in the primary care setting, due to poor referral from general practitioners (GPs) [12,13] and/or restricted access to physiotherapy associated with workforce shortages, as well as high cost to the patient for private consultation.
Journal of Comorbidity 2016;6(2):50?52
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