Multimorbidity and Multiple Diseases

The term multiple diseases is often used interchangeably with multimorbidity and usually refers to two or more chronic diseases. The term comorbidity also refers to multiple diseases but more strongly emphasizes that one or several diseases co-occur with one primary disease. It reflects one important facet of a multidimensional health concept and comprises physical diseases as well as psychological disorders. Due to age-related physiological changes (e.g., decrease in bone density, muscle strength, and elasticity of arteries), the risk of chronic diseases becomes greater with increasing age. In addition, consequences of long-term exposure to risk factors such as smoking, sedentary lifestyle, excessive noise, and air pollution accumulate over the life span and contribute to numerous chronic diseases. Thereby, multimorbidity becomes more and more prevalent in later ...