Prevalence and influencing factors of multimorbidity among community diabetic patients in six provincial-level administrative divisions of China

ObjectiveTo examine the prevalence and influencing factors of multimorbidity among community diabetic patients in six provincial-level administrative divisions (PLADs) of China for providing evidence to disease management and multimorbidity prevention in the patients. MethodsUsing stratified multistage random sampling, we selected 6 713 adult patients ( ≥ 18 years) with type 2 diabetics registered in local basic public health service systems in urban communities and rural villages in Tianjin and Chongqing municipality and Guangdong, Hubei, Heilongjiang, Gansu province. Relevant information of the participants were collected via face-to-face surveys with a self-designed questionnaire from December 2021 to March 2022 and analyzed using descriptive statistics and logistic regression. ResultsMultimorbidity was reported by 3235 (51.93%) of the 6230 patients with eligible responses. The top three most reported multimorbidities were hypertension (reported by 44.77% of the patients), coronary heart disease (12.34%) and stroke (4.65%) and the number (proportion) of the patients with one, two, and three or more multimorbidities were 2190 (35.15%), 754 (12.10%), and 291 (4.67%), respectively, with the most prevalent multimorbidity of diabetes and hyperten-sion reported by 29.15% of the patients. Multivariate unconditional logistic regression analysis indicated that aged 45 years and older, living in northern regions, having alcohol consumption and a diabetes duration of 10 years and more were significant risk factors for multimorbidity; whereas, being married was a significant protective factor. ConclusionThe prevalence of chronic disease comorbidity is relatively high and mainly influenced by age, marital status, living region, alcohol consumption and diabetes duration among community diabetic patients in urban and rural areas of six PLADs in China.