Socio-economic and demographic associations with multi-morbidity of chronic diseases among older adults in South Africa

Philippa J. Waterhouse, Open University
Nele van der Wielen, University of Southampton
Pamela C. Banda, University of the Witwatersrand

The coexistence of several diseases, referred to multi-morbidity, is associated with adverse health outcomes such as increased mortality risk. The development of multi-morbidity has been associated with older age, and consequently multi-morbidity is likely to be on the rise in countries experiencing rapid population ageing. With 8.9% of its population aged 60 years and older, South Africa has one of the oldest populations in Africa. Using the Study of Global Ageing and Adult Health, logistic regression is used to examine the relationship between multi-morbidity among those aged 50 years and over and socio-economic and demographic characteristics. The odds of respondents reporting multi-morbidity increased with age and wealth. Overall age, gender, place of residence, being Coloured or Asian and having greater wealth were found to be associated with the presence of multimorbidity and were statistically significant.