ArticleBMC geriatrics2026
Unconventional multi-morbidity patterns in older adults: results from 39,172 Chinese health examination population at primary healthcare centers.
Article in BMC geriatrics, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMulti-morbidity is prevalent among the elderly, yet specific co-occurrence patterns remain unclear. While prior studies have predominantly focused on cardiometabolic disease clusters, this study aimed to explore the proportion of recorded diagnoses of common diseases and identify unconventional multi-morbidity patterns among older adults at primary healthcare settings using electronic health records.
methodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study using data from regional health information platform in eastern China. Participants aged ≥ 65 years who underwent at least one health examination at primary healthcare setting in 2022 were included. Association rule mining integrated with the hypertext-induced topic search framework was employed to identify disease co-occurrence patterns, weighting participants and diseases based on network connectivity. Twelve common diseases were analyzed, stratified by sex and age.
resultsThere were 39,172 individuals enrolled in this study. Significant sex and age differences were found in most diseases, with hypertension, hyperlipidemia, cataract and other diseases accounting for 56.48%, 36.02%, 21.33% and 13%-20% of the overall proportion of recorded diagnoses. A total of 58 association rules met the predefined thresholds among the whole population. Beyond cardiometabolic clusters (hypertension or hyperlipidemia co-occurrence), we identified strong associations within inflammatory diseases (osteoporosis and arthritis) and between gastrointestinal conditions and sleep disorders (chronic gastritis, constipation, and sleep disorder). Patterns were consistent across sex and age subgroups.
conclusionMulti-morbidity patterns in Chinese older adults extend beyond traditional cardiovascular risks to include inflammatory and gut-sleep clusters. These findings suggest the potential value of considering cluster-based care pathways and may inform the integration of sleep screening into gastrointestinal management in primary healthcare settings.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.