AUTHOR=Marzà-Florensa Anna , Boateng Daniel , Agyemang Charles , Beune Erik , Meeks Karlijn A. C. , Bahendeka Silver , Levitt Naomi , Klipstein-Grobusch Kerstin 

TITLE=Multimorbidity Among Migrant and Non-Migrant Ghanaians: The RODAM Study

JOURNAL=International Journal of Public Health

VOLUME=66

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.ssph-journal.org/journals/international-journal-of-public-health/articles/10.3389/ijph.2021.1604056

DOI=10.3389/ijph.2021.1604056

ISSN=1661-8564

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Objectives:</bold> Multimorbidity is a growing public health concern due to the increasing burden of non-communicable diseases, yet information about multimorbidity in low- and middle-income countries and migrant populations is scarce. We aimed to investigate the distribution and patterns of multimorbidity in rural and urban areas in Ghana and Ghanaian migrants in Europe.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> The RODAM cross-sectional study included 4,833 participants. Multimorbidity was defined as presence of multiple non-communicable chronic conditions. Patterns were determined from frequent combination of conditions. Prevalence ratios were estimated by logistic regression.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> Prevalence of multimorbidity was higher in women and in urban Ghana and Europe. We observed a cardiometabolic pattern in all sites as well as circulatory-musculoskeletal and metabolic-musculoskeletal combinations in Ghana. Multimorbidity prevalence ratios were higher in Europe (men 1.47, 95% CI 1.34–1.59, women 1.18, 1.10–1.26) and urban Ghana (men 1.46, 1.31–1.59, women 1.27, 1.19–1.34).</p><p><bold>Conclusion:</bold> Distribution and patterns of multimorbidity differed by sex and site. With a higher burden of multimorbidity in urban areas, prevention strategies should focus on forestalling its increase in rapidly growing rural areas.</p>