Quality of life and the impact of multimorbidity in patients with chronic disease: literature review

Abstract

Introduction. Diseases with high prevalence, such as high blood pressure, dementia, depression, and diabetes, can lead to multimorbidity, which is defined as the presence of more than one health condition in the same individual and is today considered a global challenge. Multimorbidity has consequences both in quality of life and in the use of healthcare services. Objective. Review of the literature regarding the identification of quality of life and the impact caused by multimorbidity in patients with chronic diseases. Materials and methods. The search included electronic databases: Ovid PubMed, Cochrane Library, and NLM Tools. Inclusion criteria included published studies on the topic of identifying the impact of multi- morbidity on quality of life in patients. More than sixty potential articles were identified, but the review included the original results of nine studies that had a direct connection to the topic of interest. Results. According to the conducted review, it was evident that mainly third-age individuals, with an average age around 60 years, presented for medical treatment for two or more diseases. In some studies, patients with low educational levels were more likely to present with multimorbidity, also showing a low quality of life as a result of the diseases. These patients exhibited difficulties even in accessing health - care services. The most frequently identified diseases were arterial hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, obstructive sleep syndrome (apnea-hypopnea), anxiety, heart failure, depression, and ischemic heart dis- eases. Conclusions. Difficulties in accessing healthcare services and the coexistence of cardiometabolic and psychiatric diseases worsen the quality of life and treatment outcomes, emphasizing the need for integrat- ed and multidisciplinary approaches in managing multimorbidity in patients with chronic diseases.